Level Pair
by nyxysabyss
Summary: Everyone loses something precious at some point. It could be something as simple as a missed opportunity or something as great as a loved one. Each deals with that sorrow in their own way—but Tobio Kageyama has no idea how Shouyou Hinata will overcome the loss of his wings. All Kageyama does know, is that he won't let him face that future alone. Inspired by Craziiwolf's KHWinged AU
1. Opening 1-2

A/N: This bit of whimsy is inspired by Craziiwolf's amazing work, her art for this AU can be found on tumbler: tagged/khwingedau

All of her work is stunning but this headcanon set piece got me writing. It's been taking shape since before all of of her AU details manifested so there are discrepancies with her AU, but it just kept writing itself. And since it sprouted out of her wonderful art, I figured I might as well post it. Fair warning… this will be LONG (40000 words already) and multiple chapters(like 20 and counting). It will probably be around 25 before it's complete and I will try to keep a regular schedule posting them. I don't know if I've kept them in character as well as I'd hoped, but the words keep flying for me and it has more or less taken over my life for the time being. So here you are… the product of a mind filled with voices and Craziiwolf's art. Feel free to send me thoughts!

 **Opening 1/2**

If we remembered every day that we could lose someone at any moment, we would love them more fiercely and freely, and without fear- not because there is nothing to lose, but because everything can always be lost. ~Emily Rapp, The Still Point of the Turning World

 **Kageyama** can feel the bright sunlight against his eyelids and dimly notes that it is making his head pound that much worse. Getting to sleep in is a scarcity that comes maybe once or twice a year and something that if he was honest, actually put him on edge because of how unusual it was—but having a headache was completely ruining the moment.

Wait… headache.

Kageyama has the abruptly keen impression that he is missing something and jerks awake with panic. He can see a tall oak stretching out above him as he lies sporting a splitting headache that bleeds out from his temples and he recognizes none of his surroundings. There's a gap in the branches that allows the sunlight to filter through, making him squint. Though he doesn't know why, his first thought is _Hinata._

Disregarding the pulse of pain that sparks through his head and the irritating question of why, he jerks upright only to cringe slightly at the way his one wing pulls painfully. The main pivot sends him a warning in the form of shooting pain when he stretches it out and he frowns darkly. That damn joint is going to be the death of him in twenty-four hours, he just knows it. But the pain is easily forgotten because _Hinata isn't here_.

In a flash, he recalls with hazy clarity the last thing he can remember. They'd been out on a regular scout mission like they'd been doing for years. Hinata'd been lamenting how long they had left before they got home and that he hoped they'd make it in time for dinner. Kageyama had pointed out that while the redhead might have been more agile and quick off the gun, he wasn't as good at sustaining that maxed out speed over an extended distance, so if they did miss dinner, it would be the smaller boy's fault. It was nothing more than a jibe and he knew Hinata's stamina could easily rival his own, but he knew it would get a rise.

Their conversation had quickly dissolved into easy bickering, something that was far closer to normal than not. Really the only time they weren't jabbing back and forth was if something serious was going on or they were around Kageyama's father. But they'd both been caught up in the banter… and Kageyama never saw it coming.

A flash of white feathers—such a contrast to his and Hinata's black wings—blindsided him and a heavy impact hit him in the back of the head. He remembers now.

He remembers faltering completely, seeing nothing but stars and dimly hearing Hinata yell. Whoever the white-winged jerk was that had grabbed him, he'd let go and turned on Hinata. Kageyama had dropped the few meters to the canopy below them, still in a daze.

He remembers.

He remembers seeing Hinata's black wings beating madly, clashing with the large white ones of their assailant. He remembers hearing Hinata yell and how he knew by the strain in that sound that he was in serious pain. He remembers the uppermost branches biting into his arms as he lost sight of them, and then even, quiet blackness. He is covered in scratches and bruises, he definitely messed up the main joint in his one wing somehow, and he is fairly confident he hit his head harder than is good for him, but _what happened to Hinata?_

He stumbles to his feet, taking note of the few leaves and branches that lay next to him. He'd definitely crash landed. He follows the trail of small twigs and snapped leaves that highlight his trajectory and immediately begins beating his wings. Ignoring the pain in the one, his splitting head, and his aching body, he pushes off the ground and heads for his point of entry. He has to find Hinata, and the best place to start is the last place he saw him.

He breaks the tops of the trees and pushes upward, scanning the landscape around him. The sun is dropping in the sky so they are past dinner hour… and Hinata is nowhere in sight. His father will probably be sending out a search for them soon. He has to find Hinata; he has no intention of returning without him. He moronically wishes he had Hinata's eyes. Even if only marginally, the redhead's sight is better than his and he is usually the one that catches the slightest details and movements first. He pushes his wings out, disregarding the complaints from the one. Instead, he scans the trees around him for something—anything that will tell him where his scouting companion has disappeared to.

He doesn't want to think about their attacker at the moment or how it doesn't matter that he tries not to dwell on that screech that Hinata made—that he can still hear it in his head. Hinata has a pure musical voice, always did… it is far different from Kageyama's own. Few in their murder have such perfect voices and they are all usually another avian race that shelter with them. Remembering that uniquely pristine sound contorted with pain makes Kageyama wish he could remove his own ears.

As the minutes tick by without a single sign of Hinata, he grows more uneasy. His muscles are tensing up, and his wings are ready to fail him in the wake of the abuse they've taken— but he can't stop pushing them now. The sun is dropping. He has to find something soon. Without light to see by, they'll both be out here somewhere alone as darkness falls. Their rookery provided more than just shelter; the forest and fields aren't safe at night.

Feeling the frantic tendrils of panic reaching into his gut as the light continues to dim, he speeds across the tops of the trees, looking for any branch out of place that might signal a dropping point. He is breathing hard, his limbs are shaking and his mind is fraying at the edges when he jars to a halt, because he's _seen_ something. Something that doesn't belong against the backdrop of vegetation.

A lone black feather is lodged in the ivy vines that snake up a taller pine. He brakes sharply and buzzes toward it, and he is nearly on top of it and reaching for it when he sees another. And another. Kageyama feels a chill slide down his spine and he pauses.

Withdrawing his hand, he turns and feels the hair on his arms rise. More black feathers are appearing the more he looks around him and the metallic scent of blood hits his nose. His hands shake just slightly as he rounds the pine and drops through the canopy. There is a large part of him that wants these to belong to someone else, that wants to think that Hinata is fine and just waiting back home with a smug look at having beaten him back. There are thousands of people in their murder and nearly all have black wings. These feathers could feasibly belong to anyone.

As he pushes past a branch in full leaf, his jaw drops in horror. There on the forest floor lies half of a black wing, severed at the middle joint. The long flight feathers are disarrayed and crushed at horrible angles, and blood covers the edge where it has been shorn from the rest of it. Kageyama belatedly realizes his heart is pounding, his breath coming in gasps, and he fights to calm himself.

Just because this wing is black doesn't mean it is Hinata's. He drops closer all the same, determined to make sure. It is roughly the right size but with how battered it is, that doesn't mean much, he tells himself. He needs to get closer to really get a solid look at it. He drops beside the broken, severed wing and in the waning light, his own gut revolts as he is forced to come to terms with the reality.

Hinata's wings aren't solid black. They are peppered with occasional white feathers on their undersides— something Hinata takes a lot of crap for— and there, beside the torn flesh and sinew, clings a telltale feather as stark against the rest of the wing as the moon is against the night sky.

Kageyama stares for a long moment before dropping to his knees and with shaking hands, reaches out and weakly pulls the broken wing up to get a better look at the underside. He sucks in a breath and drops it, scrabbling backward away from it. His eyesight isn't as keen as his smaller companion, but he still sees well enough that there is no doubt. Hinata is…

Without a wing, Hinata is… _Hinata is grounded._

Kageyama shies away from the broken limb on the ground before him, unwilling to believe that. To an avian like him or Hinata… this is a fate nearly worse than death.

 _This can't be happening._

He knows that seeing half of one of Hinata's wings is rocking him to his core. Angry tears escape without his permission and he quickly scrubs them away and levels his panic. He will not break here. He still has to find that stupid shrimp.

 _But it shouldn't be all that difficult now_ , he muses morbidly. Hinata can't cover nearly as much ground without his wings. And really, the trail is easy to follow at this point. The blood droplets are sparse but they give a definite direction. Kageyama takes a deep breath and firms his resolve.

He needs to find Hinata.


	2. Opening 2-2

**Opening 2/2**

The best way to find what matters the most is to lose something precious to you. ~Wazim Shaw

 **The dark haired boy** splashes into the rushes following the blood trail. It is much heavier here and Kageyama is sure that Hinata somehow managed to escape his attacker's hold and had been running on foot by this point. There is just enough light for him to see the blood still tinting the water between the cattails and he hurries forward. He stumbles over a submerged rock before coming to a stop, his gut bottoming out. It ends in a river and Kageyama feels despair set in.

He'd followed the trail until he'd found the rest of the shorn wing and later the other one as well. He grits his teeth and has to stave off the urge to throw up yet again when he thinks about it. That second wing had been busted to hell, the long bones shattered before they'd been taken from him altogether. Now, a half mile later, it looks like Hinata had finally broken free only to rush headlong into a moving rush of water.

This was death for them. Their wings became nothing but a cumbersome burden in deep open water let alone the swiftly running currents of a river. And Hinata had lost a lot of blood by this point, too. Kageyama can feel his mind going numb. His dark blue eyes glaze slightly and he resolves to head down river to find his companion's body. If nothing else, he will give him a burial. He doesn't think he has the capacity to really consider or take in the truth right now, so running on instinct and reflex is the next best option.

He drops over a spit of rapids, ignoring the serious stiffness that is settling into his wing. His head still pulses and his body has largely gone numb but he is pretty sure it is just exhaustion. He scans the banks on autopilot, looking for the pale gray complexion of a drowned body, the shriveled wrinkles of long soaked skin, a limp hand that is probably already stiff. He rounds a bend and nearly falls into the river himself. The only thing that saves him is that engaged autopilot, that distance from a reality he can't yet accept.

There, on a slightly sandy, shallow curve, the ground is disturbed. Long meandering drag marks—as if someone were drunkenly crawling along—lead up to a large fallen tree, the exposed and long weathered roots of another sheltering a small area up against it. And in that little windfall, lies Hinata. Kageyama freezes for a long moment, his lungs constricting.

In the oncoming twilight, Hinata's skin stands out against the dark bark of the wood behind him. He looks so small and pale, and totally alien with no wings surrounding him, but Kageyama would recognize that patch of orange hair anywhere. He blinks and when the smaller boy is still there, his muscles unbind and he pumps his wings to jettison himself the rest of the distance to him.

Hinata had been alive when he left the river—the drag marks proved that much. The taller boy drops beside him and catches the barest rise of the redhead's chest and against everything his gut tells him, he allows himself to hope. He looks like hell with scratches and bruises all over and a solid cut on his cheek… and the obvious that his wings are gone, leaving nothing more than bloodied patches of feathers across his shoulder blades… but he is alive.

Kageyama reaches out and calls to him, shakes his shoulder gently, but Hinata yields no response. The smaller boy is completely out. Kageyama can understand. In less than a couple hours, he's been through a brutal hell. He is soaking wet and battered nearly beyond recognition. Moreover, Hinata is dangerously cold and having lived through the trauma of losing his wings and that much blood, Kageyama is sure he is running on nil for energy reserves to generate any heat.

It is too dark at this point for Kageyama to build a fire—he'd never be able to find enough kindling and put it together with his poor night vision. Glancing around them, Kageyama has to give the kid props; he couldn't have found a much better spot to hole up for the night…although he doubts the location was anywhere _on_ the list of things Hinata was thinking when he'd dragged himself out of the river at _this_ particular spot.

Gently cradling the smaller boy up against himself and mindful of the destroyed feather base on his back, he curls his own battered wings around them to trap heat, his strained wing joint already starting to throb. His own energy reserves are definitely waning, but he still has warmth at least. If he can keep the other boy warm enough through the night, maybe, just maybe, he'll still be there in the morning.


	3. Day One 1-2

**Day One 1/2**

All reality is a blender where hopes and dreams are mixed with fear and despair. ~Holly Goldberg Sloan

 **Kageyama** stiffly walks back to the little makeshift camp he'd set up beside the river where they'd spent the night with his hands full of wood.

Everything hurts and to top it off, thick cloud cover has moved in and it is starting to sprinkle. He's been reduced to foraging for kindling on foot because when he'd tried to move his one wing even a little, it had screeched at him badly enough for tears to sting his eyes before resuming its maddening throb of pain. He is running on _very_ limited sleep and he still has a headache. Honestly, the cold was invasive and annoying and the tree behind him was the furthest thing he could have gotten from his bed save a field of rocks, but he could have slept through that.

What he hadn't been able to ignore was half waking in a panic anytime Hinata's breathing stretched too long between breaths. Which was basically every other breath if the number of times Kageyama woke was anything to go by. But as the sun had first started lightening the sky with gray, Hinata had still breathed.

Kageyama had waited until the sun was just barely breaking through the trees to extricate himself with the purpose of starting a fire in mind. He'd carefully laid Hinata out, mumbling a grudging apology at taking the warmth away, and sat back and really looked at him. His face and neck were bruised darkly, the cut on his cheek raw and painful looking. Another splash of purple peeked out when his shirt had ridden up a little and Kageyama was sure he had a lot of internal bruising too. He had scrapes down his arms and legs, his one shoulder likely a superb candidate for some impressive scarring.

And of course, there was his lack of wings. Despite his trip down the river, his shirt still bore frightening evidence of just how much he'd bled when that white-winged bastard had stripped them out. The feathered base had scabbed over during the night and it would definitely scar… but Hinata would never fly again. That was a living hell for avian people like them. Having been in the sky, touched it, ridden it, seen the world from that height…to lose such an integral part of who one was like that would be beyond devastating.

As he'd taken in the broken redhead, the reality had come crashing down. Hinata was grounded. He would never be able to go with them on scouting trips or a morning conditioning flight again. On the days where a large impending storm threatened the rookery, he'd never be able to join them in the thrill of riding the rollercoaster of currents where the warm and cold air met just ahead of it. All of their drills— the dives and checks and pitching banks— were now all out of his reach. Even the simplest things like moving between trees would be infinitely harder now. And _Volley_ … Hinata would never play the game they all lived for again. It was as if Hinata had been forced outside of their world while still retaining a perfect view back into it.

And now a niggling thought had worked its way into his head and he couldn't banish it. Hinata was probably grounded because he'd intervened with the bastard white wing. Hinata had jumped in when the jerk had attacked _him._ And when Hinata had needed him to return the favor, Kageyama had been nowhere in sight. If Hinata hadn't tried to save him, he would probably still have his wings. Guilt had steadily been building in his chest and he couldn't bring himself to face Hinata's silent form any longer and he'd gone to fetch firewood. He'd managed to start a low blaze but with no change in his companion, he'd left for another armload of kindling.

He curses colorfully when he trips over a low branch he hadn't seen through the undergrowth and silently grumbles about not being able to fly at the moment. He quickly checks himself… Hinata will never have that chance again. He rounds a bush and steps onto the softer sand beside the fire and goes still.

Hinata isn't where he left him. The redhead is curled up against the log, his side resting against it to avoid contact with his back. His shoulders are hunched and his arms are crossed in front of him as if he were cold. His skin has a bit more color now and maybe that's why his bruises look all the more prominent to Kageyama; he is the very image of pitiful, but...

Hinata is awake.

Kageyama drops his wood and takes two steps forward before he's even realized it. Hinata's gaze snaps in his direction and his expression runs slack, his eyes going wide, and all Kageyama can think is how gratified he feels that he gets to see those orbs once more. He'd been honestly frightened that Hinata would die.

"K…Kageyama?" He whimpers. And Kageyama watches dumbfounded as Hinata scrambles weakly to his feet and heads in his direction with little more than a wince.

"You're alive? I thought you were dead." He says softly, the threat of tears just behind his words as he comes up right in front of him.

His musical voice is scratchy, and Kageyama hates thinking about how it got that way. He wants to tell Hinata to go back to the fire, the light misty rain is going to make him wet all over again and that is the last thing he needs in his current state. But Kageyama bites his tongue and carefully avoids looking up at the space where his wings are very much absent even as he can't help but be acutely aware of it.

"I thought _you_ were dead, idiot." Kageyama returns instead, unable to stomach the desperation in his friend's face.

He half-ways expects the redhead to fall right into the banter like any other day, but that's not what happens. Instead, Hinata's hands reach out and fist into Kageyama's shirt with a white knuckled grip—really a feat given how pale he still is. The response sets Kageyama on edge.

"I saw you fall. That jerk dragged me across the sky and I couldn't get to you. I was sure a fall from that high would kill you." His forehead drops against Kageyama's chest and the taller boy feels totally blindsided. Hinata looks so shaken and he has no idea what to do.

"I broke my fall with my face and a tree branch." He mutters self-consciously. There's a half bark of laughter that dissolves into a sob and then Hinata goes quiet for a moment.

"I'm glad. I lost sight of you and then…" His voice cracks just a touch and he lets go of Kageyama's shirt. "He was hitting me. He got behind me and grabbed my wing and twisted and it hurt so much…"

Hinata's hands drift up to his shoulders, his fingertips brushing the ends of the battered feathers and his back hunches. Kageyama can't see his face, but the entire position conveys nothing but pain and anguish. And his voice… the rawness in his vocal cords is completely messing with the black-haired boy.

"Kageyama, my… my wings…" His legs fold up and his voice all out breaks as his knees hit the ground. "They're gone… they're gone, Kageyama."

Kageyama can't stand seeing him like this. This kid is the most ridiculously sunny person… that stupidly bright and inquisitive personality has gotten them both into plenty of trouble. He'd pulled their banter trick in conditioning just last week under his father's nose and earned them a round in the race pits. Kageyama had been salty with him for two days over that fiasco. But seeing him now, Kageyama can't find that person.

He drops down next to the redhead, unable to stop himself. He forces his wings out over them to keep the rain off, the pain from his strained joint be damned.

"Hey." He reaches out and pulls Hinata's teary face up to meet his gaze and supports it there with a hand against his neck to make sure he has the redhead's attention. "It's going to be ok. We will figure it out. I promise."

He's not sure if he says it more for Hinata's benefit or his own. His father is the leader of their murder for a reason. They are over a few thousand strong and no longer scattered and weak because of his guidance. But Kageyama knows the rigid regulations his father follows to have brought them so far…and he knows his father's rules on someone who can't fly.


	4. Day One 2-2

**Level Pair; Day One 2/2**

Chaos in the world brings uneasiness but also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth. ~Tom Barrett

 **Kageyama** is exhausted.

The fire is burning low as night closes in once more and they are nearly out of firewood. Their shower earlier in the day had dampened everything and he hadn't bothered to go find more because he knew the wood wouldn't catch well. Instead, he opts to ease himself down gingerly beside the smaller redhead where he is curled up and sleeping fitfully against the fallen tree.

It will probably be another cold night and they haven't really eaten all day. Even so, his stomach hardly gurgled in protest and Hinata hasn't said a word about it either. He has to wonder if they are just too strung out in the wake of the previous evening to care enough about basic necessities yet. Their bodies are still adjusting to the massive abuse they've suffered—or the maiming in Hinata's case—so he supposes it isn't that unusual. His wing had continued its totally vexing throbbing all day and his head is still pulsing so maybe that's the case.

His head is still pulsing and Hinata had meekly pointed out earlier that day that his hair was crusted with blood over his one ear that he'd apparently never even noticed. The smaller boy had offered to try cleaning the injury for him since they _were_ next to a river after all. Food might have been scarce, but water was abundant. Kageyama could tell Hinata was tense and barely keeping himself together and he'd caved and let his companion have his way in the hope that it would ease the redhead's mind just a bit.

Hinata hadn't stopped at the cut on his head, though, and had rinsed the scrapes on his arms, too. Under the other boy's careful ministrations, Kageyama had been slowly relaxing until Hinata had reached toward his wings. Kageyama hadn't meant to, but he'd quickly pulled them away from the redhead's smaller hands. Hinata had frozen in place before retreating altogether with wide eyes and too late, Kageyama realized how that reaction must have felt to someone who no longer had wings—like a slight spurn along the lines of 'you lost your wings so don't touch mine'. He'd found himself scrambling to make amends and correct any misconception and he'd reached out toward the smaller boy.

"Sorry." He'd mumbled, feeling pathetic. "One of them is kind of sore."

Hinata hadn't really said anything back and Kageyama felt like he'd just undone any progress that letting the shrimp take care of him had made. Instead Hinata had largely lapsed back into silence most of the day except when he had volunteered around midday to keep a watch so he could get some sleep. Kageyama had tried, he really did, but he couldn't find any rest in the stillness broken only by the background river. The quiet had simply built until all he could hear was Hinata's breathing and the sound of his own heartbeat.

Hinata always talked. He chattered nonstop—something that was a maddeningly frequent source of extra workouts under his father—but today, he'd barely spoken. Kageyama wants to think that it is because he is just wiped out from his injuries, but he knows by Hinata's unusually deep stares that he is still reeling from the experience itself. And Kageyama has no idea what to do. Anything he could say, any kind of condolence would come across as nothing but pity for the other boy's situation at the moment as well as be a silently glaring reminder that while Hinata is now grounded, he still has his own wings.

They'd carefully gone over most of Hinata's injuries in the afternoon and Kageyama had been appalled. His own are minor compared to the redhead's plethora of scrapes and ugly colorful bruises. While his arms and legs sport most of the cuts and abrasions, his shirt hides a tie dye network of purple and yellow across his ribs and abdomen, and his back is completely black and blue around the feather base where his wings were forcibly removed.

Hinata had been beaten nearly to hell. Kageyama can't believe the boy had anything left in him to keep going after all that. How much drive did this scrawny redhead have to have to have pulled himself out of the river after enduring that?

Kageyama jerks awake at the sound of a strained whimper and flinches violently as he realizes that it is full on raining and he is soaked. He blinks once before urgently seeking out Hinata. The fire has gone out and it is pitch dark so he carefully reaches out beside himself and feels around for the redhead. The other boy winces sharply away from the touch when he connects.

 _Damn. He's cold and wet again._

He has no wings to shelter him and trap heat anymore, either. Kageyama doesn't want him to get sick; he can't afford another setback with all of his injuries. Gently laying a hand against his shoulder in the dark, Kageyama almost yanks it back at Hinata's soft scratchy cry and his cringe away from the touch. He squeezes instead and leans over him.

"Hinata?" He asks quietly over the sound of the falling rain in his ears and more distantly, the river, but the other boy does nothing but tense up even more. He shakes the shoulder gently.

"Hinata, its—"

Kagayama's efforts to wake him are cut short when the arm he has hold of jerks wildly and the limb smacks into his face. Reeling backward, he stares at the darkness beside him, his stinging face darkening in one of his murderous scowls. Before he can stop himself, he reaches out and punches that shoulder hard enough to roll Hinata onto his stomach and put his face into the mud.

"Dumbass!" He barks and the sodden sack of flesh beside him sucks in a gasp.

"Kageyama?" There is a measure of panic in his voice that Kageyama hates and his irritation is immediately cowed.

"I'm right here, you idiot. You should know, you just hit me." He growls out, feeling like a drowned rat.

A frantic hand finds his shirt in the dark and latches on. The urgency in the action sets his teeth on edge and he reaches out to put a hand on the redhead's shoulder in what he hopes is reassurance. Kageyama can hear the sharpness in Hinata's breathing above the rain still falling and listens carefully as it slowly subsides over several moments.

"Kageyama?" The redhead repeats softly, almost pleadingly and it grates on Kageyama's nerves.

"What?"

...

"Will you stay close by?"

The question is meek and Kageyama realizes how _terrified_ Hinata is. He huffs and reaches out with his other hand. He feels Hinata tense just a bit again when he grasps his shoulders and hauls the smaller boy up against himself. The contact sparks a sensation of invasively wet chill, and he wants to grumble as his muscles subconsciously tense.

"Idiot. It's not like I can see in the dark so I couldn't leave right now if I wanted to."

Mindful of the damaged feather base, he secures the redhead like he did the night before; whether Hinata remembers that, Kageyama can't say for sure. He splays and tucks his wings around the both of them with the slightest cringe at the protest his wing joint gives him. They are already soaked but at least he can keep a majority of the water off them from here on out. Little by little, he feels Hinata relax against him and he slowly feels his own muscles doing the same. He is nearly out again when Hinata moves just a bit, drawing his thoughts back to the surface.

"Kageyama?" He asks softly and the raven haired boy bites back the urge to curse at him.

"Yeah?" There is a moment's pause.

"Are you bleeding?"

Kageyama cracks his eyes open in confusion, a frown creasing his brow… but now that Hinata mentions it, the rainwater at the corner of his mouth does have a slight iron taste to it. _Stupid Hinata._

"Shut up, shrimp."


	5. Day Two 1-1

**Level Pair; Day Two 1/1**

We all at certain times in our lives find ourselves broken. True strength is found in picking up the pieces. ~Jeromy Shingongo

 **"I know it's not** even a comparison, but I woke up feeling like this was one of those things that we will all find hilarious later… like that incident with the bats." Shouyou says tentatively.

Kageyama doesn't look up from where he is focused intently on his task, carefully and painstakingly cleaning the deep wounds that used to be Hintata's wings. He listens with half an ear just the same; it is the first time the redhead has really started talking and Kageyama doesn't think he could ignore him even if he wanted to.

"Well, you're right. There is no comparison there." He says distractedly.

"But it feels kinda like that. It's really funny now, but we didn't think that cut on Tanaka's head was going to stop bleeding at the time. I mean, I felt awful at first." He says, and Kageyama wonders if he's just talking so he doesn't have to think. He will roll with it for now.

"You obviously didn't feel bad enough; you and your blind enthusiasm got Tanaka to tell our _drill instructor_ that he walked into a doorframe when, really, he fell out of the top bunk because you released a bunch of bats in the barracks in the middle of the night." He cajoles. The other boy flinches when he brings the wet cloth to his skin still freezing cold from the river and grunts when Kageyama presses the abused flesh just a bit too hard. The first brush of the material had taken the top layer of scab away, revealing disfigured muscle and sinew beneath. It had started bleeding a little again, but Kageyama is sure it will be okay.

"Yeah, that was a bad choice in retrospect… who knew our drill instructor that day would be the _one_ instructor in the whole military who had a scar over his eyebrow for pretty much the exact excuse Tanaka gave. He got unnecessarily salty over the whole thing." Shouyou says a bit wryly and lifts a shoulder in a half shrug, making Kageyama tense for a moment in his work.

"He thought Tanaka was ribbing him and Noya's snort did nothing to help." Kageyama deadpans as he returns the shirt to Hinata's skin. Shouyou huffs slightly.

"It was legitimately an honest mistake; that guy seemed to have it out for us the rest of the year. Tanaka made sure to remind me of that every time we got a diving drill or something." He mutters and Kageyama almost smiles slightly at the sullen sound in his voice before the redhead continues. "Honestly, I'd have pegged Asahi for that kind of reaction instead of Tanaka, but he barely woke up enough to wonder what the heck was going on until Suga hit the light and everyone saw the blood."

"And Daichi wasn't even there. I'll never get how you had the presence of mind to keep a _pile_ of bats in a bag under your covers, but not realize the person you were really looking to spook wasn't even in the room when you let them all go." Kageyama grumbles, secretly relieved that Hinata is responding so easily. He resolves to try and keep the conversation going.

"Daichi's bunk is on the other end of the room next to the door. I didn't know he'd left. And his reaction when he came back was pretty flat, too." He says petulantly.

"That's because he came back to bats flying everywhere while everyone was losing their minds because Tanaka's face wouldn't quit bleeding. I'd have been massively irritated, too." He mutters as he uses Hinata's shirt to gently rinse and work away the last bits of dirt and excess dried blood from the wound, trying to gauge exactly how much damage the redhead sustained.

"Yeah, I guess I maybe went a little overboard." Hinata says sheepishly.

"One bat would have been sufficient, two or three would have been overboard. You released _eighteen_ of those flying squeaky mice. They were still flushing them all out of the barracks two days later." Kageyama says with a touch of indignance, a frown marring his face as he gently works the feathers free of the old blood matting them together against Hinata's back and carefully pushes them all aside to lay the open wound bare. And for the millionth time, he wants to _murder_ that white winged asshole.

The long bones that ran the length of their wings were anchored in the back by the shoulder blades and small coracoid bones… to have them forcibly ripped out would not only dislodge the coracoid bone in particular but strip the attaching muscles and nerves as well. One of Hinata's coracoid bones just barely peeks out through the damaged tissues, and white tendons that had once run into his wings to control expansion and mobility end in shredded ribbon-like bundles. All that is left of his companion's once glossy, powerful wings are the sad feathers that ring the two mangled holes in his back.

"Eh, the one it seemed to get to the most was actually Noya. He complained that he could still hear them for months afterward."

"Yeah... Hinata…" He murmurs contritely, not wanting to change the subject but unwilling to just start yanking away. "I'm probably going to have to pull one or two of these to make sure they don't get caught in the scabs and cause infections."

Hinata glances at him a little defensively but turns away and nods mutely. Muttering an apology, Kageyama takes hold of one of the small flimsy feathers that clings to the very edge of the damaged tissues and tugs sharply.

Hinata goes rigid, his breath escaping in a slight keen. It makes Kageyama cringe and want to shrink away in guilt for causing such pain. One by one, he removes two, three more that he deems too close and likely to hinder healing. Hinata still has a patch of feathers and as the injury heals, more will likely grow back in.

 _Too bad he can't grow the whole wing back in,_ he laments cynically.

He gently taps Hinata's shoulder to let him know he's finished and rinses the shirt once more before handing it back to the redhead.

"How long before you suppose your dad's sentries finds us?" Hinata asks, twisting the wet garment in his hands. There is still a scratchiness to Hinata's voice and Kageyama does his best to ignore it.

"I figured they'd have found us by now but I'm not so sure anymore." He says idly, and Hinata snorts.

"You _suck_ at tracking and you found me. Pretty sure they'll find us just fine."

Kageyama shakes his head with annoyance, but revels in Hinata's jibe— it feels far more normal.

"It _rained_ , Hinata. The blood trail I followed will be gone now. They have no idea what part of our scouting route we went missing on." He drops beside him, his hard cobalt gaze watching the river.

"Your dad runs the clan and you were his pick for an heir. The Grand King isn't just going to abandon you." Hinata says disparagingly. Kageyama's eyes flash and his frown deepens.

"So long as he thinks there's a possibility we're still alive. It's already been two days, Hinata. I'm sure as far as he's concerned, our chances are already looking slim." He grouches.

"Then we will just have to hike it. Or at least I will." Hinata says with a touch of his former cheer, though it quickly dampens.

"I'm not even sure which way to go. Everything looks different below the canopy." Kagayama mumbles and looks up at the trees around them. Hinata turns to him with a bland stare, one of his eyebrows creeping up his forehead.

"You are the one with wings, you moron. If one of us can get a view from above, it's you… or would you like me to try tree climbing?" He says unimpressed.

"Shut up, idiot. I'm aware of that. But I think our big priority should probably be some type of food today. We go much longer without it, I doubt we will be able to make it back regardless. We can start trying to find our way home tomorrow." Kageyama says, blatantly avoiding the real reason. His one joint is so stiff and painful that he can barely move it.

"Well I don't think we should wait _too_ long… they tell us to stay out of the forests at night for a reason."

Kageyama has to agree. Every now and then, a sentry unit would corner and kill a cat who was trespassing, so he was aware that they were around, but the crows always outnumbered the cat by like five well trained fighters to one in those instances. He and Hinata are two badly hurt and weakened avians. He knows owls roam the woods and he's heard stories of their predatory endeavors on crows so not moving around much at night is probably their best option and it's probably safest if they don't light fires either. There are also large wild beasts in the woods that could easily take out an injured crow. Pumas, bears, and occasionally wolves are all a very real and potential threat. The rain had probably actually been as much a blessing as it was a curse. If his father's best trackers couldn't find them, he doubted much else would have better luck.

"I wonder what I will do if your dad lets me come back." Hinata breaks into his thoughts and when Kageyama looks at his face, there is a faraway glint in his eyes, an uncertain sorrow.

"What are you talking about—'if'. Of course you are coming back." Kageyama scoffs with a scowl.

"I'm not dense, you moron. I know your dad's position on weak people." Hinata won't meet his gaze but Kageyama is perturbed at his statement all the same.

"You are many things, Hinata, but weak isn't one of them. You've never been weak." He says and he has to wonder where such conviction comes from and how it bleeds into his voice without his permission. But it falls on deaf ears and Hinata barks a cynical, dry laugh.

"I've never been wingless before either. Pretty sure your dad will see them as largely one and the same."

"His can snip his pin feathers. You belong with the rest of us."

Kageyama is surprised at the ferocity in his voice. He's never _really_ challenged his father in his life; he has no idea where the itch to do so now is coming from.

"Careful moron. You might admit that you find my company tolerable if you stop filtering statements like that." Hinata needles him and Kageyama is chagrined to realize that Hinata didn't miss his tone either. His face darkens with one of his textbook withering scowls.

"You analyze everything worse than a girl." He hisses at him and Hinata leans away from him and raises his hands.

"Yeah, yeah." He says placatingly, but there is the slightest upturn at the corners of his mouth that he's trying—and failing—to control, Kageyama can tell and his face darkens even more.

 _That little jerk is having a go at me._

For a moment, he intends to take a swing at him despite how that expression that's been absent the last twenty-four hours gives him a sense of relief, but stops before his arm can move more than a couple inches. The sight of the cut and bruises on his face and neck give him pause. Hinata still looks like hell and it would probably be better _not_ to add to his long list of painful issues at the moment.

"You're lucky you look like you got into it with Asahi and came out on the wrong end." He mutters before standing and Hinata laughs outright, but Kageyama sees how it doesn't quite reach his eyes. They both know Asahi is one of the most pacifistic crows in their training group and probably the least likely person to return a punch from one of his friends. That doesn't stop the large and imposing crow from appearing homicidal.

"Daichi would have been a better pick, stupid."

Kageyama glares in his direction because he knows the redhead is right. But he refuses to let him win so easily.

"If you got into it with Daichi, we'd be having a funeral."

He mutters peevishly before turning away from the grounded flier, but he hears Hinata laugh once more and can't help but notice Hinata is chatting more than yesterday, seems lighter. He can tell the redhead is trying to find 'normal' again… or as normal as well as he can given everything that's happened.

"I'm going to go see if I can find us anything to eat. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." He growls over his shoulder.

"Grounded, remember?" Hinata ribs halfheartedly with a thumb jabbing toward the empty air over his shoulder, "Doubt I can top that." He says and Kageyama hears the slight catch in his voice that lets him know that the redhead isn't really ok—that despite his more talkative demeanor, his deceptively brighter mood masks the fact that he is still staggering.

Unable to face the smaller boy, Kageyama waves him off and heads out to find something for them to eat.


	6. Day Three 1-2

**Level Pair; Day Three 1/2**

Guilt isn't always a rational thing… guilt is a weight that can crush you whether you deserve it or not. ~Maureen Johnson

 **Shouyou Hinata** knows he's barely keeping it together. He knows at any given point, the world might come crashing down and he might dissolve into hysterics. He ardently tries to busy his mind with anything and everything so he doesn't think about the pain that still knifes through his back and everything that means. Really, the only time it stops hurting is when he's asleep.

He's talking again, telling Kageyama about the last time he and Noya had snuck out of their barracks and into the main trading hub for the festival last week as they walk along the riverbank. They've been following it downstream most of the morning and he's done nothing but fill the silence with useless chatter.

He's pretty sure Kageyama knows how badly he's trying to avoid thinking about his shorn wings. The taller boy's barbs aren't nearly as harsh or swift as normal— when they come at all— and last night, when Shouyou caved to his mounting stress and asked to sleep close to him through the night, Kageyama had wordlessly held his wings open in invitation.

While it had still taken Shouyou a while to get to sleep himself, the dark haired boy had crashed out almost immediately. It made him pause and remember how haggard he'd looked that first morning of this horrible misadventure and he'd reminded himself that this happened to Kageyama, too. Though Kageyama wasn't missing his wings and lacked the large bruises like Shouyou had, he probably sported almost as many scrapes on his arms and legs.

And then there had been the gash over his ear that had drawn nothing but a blank look from Kageyama when Shouyou had asked about it. There was still dried blood crusted around it and Kageyama hadn't even noticed it. The fall through the canopy obviously hadn't left him untouched. By yesterday morning, Kageyama's eyes were gaining rings beneath them and Shouyou started watching him more closely.

He noticed how Kageyama barely shifted his wings, his movements precise and calculated to conserve motion. He hadn't forgotten when Kageyama had said one of them was sore, but if there was an injury on them, Shouyou couldn't find it with all the feathers in the way. But as the day progressed, he grew more and more convinced that there _was_ something wrong with Kageyama's wings. He hadn't seen the taller boy leave the ground once since they'd reunited by the river.

Kageyama has a remarkably limited emotional arsenal, Shouyou admits, and he's gotten good at reading him based on his actions alone to interpret his moods. Kageyama keeps everyone at arm's length, he never pulls punches with his barbs, he is never amenable to another person's comfort or peace of mind if he doesn't see some benefit himself, and Shouyou can't remember a single incident where Kageyama wouldn't have decked him to shut him up less than thirty minutes into his idle chatter. As it stands, Shouyou's voice has grown raw from talking for _hours_ now.

He can tell that Kageyama is off, but he isn't quite sure how exactly. He wraps up his tale of his escapade with Noya to the festival that had resulted in him half falling asleep through drills the next day which led to them all having an extra ten minutes of gut-busting conditioning. When he looks up, Kageyama is eyeing him with a homicidal glare.

" _That_ was why I got sucked into doing those extra pitch dives?" He growls out and Shouyou unintentionally puts a little space between them.

"Er… maybe? Noya was the one who dragged me out wanting me to be a wingman so he could try to pick up a girl. I'm apparently bad it, by the way." He squeaks out.

"Forget making it back home, I'm going to kill you right here, dumbass." Kageyama takes a step toward him and Shouyou takes a step backward.

"You don't need to, there's already a silver lining—you won't have to worry about me ever being the cause of your extra workouts again." It slips out before Shouyou can catch himself and he sees Kageyama falter in his advance and look away from him with a massive frown.

"Small consolation." He murmurs with a half shrug but Shouyou can tell his heart isn't behind the words— and then he turns and continues downstream, leaving Shouyou standing there for a long moment in shock.

He's just had a flash of epiphany and might have figured out another clue in decoding his companion's actions.

 _Guilt?_

Is that what Kageyama is feeling? For a moment he almost discards the thought entirely. Kageyama, feeling guilty? Really? But he can find no other explanation for the odd behavior. A part of Shouyou gets the immediate, irrational, and utterly juvenile urge to use this newfound knowledge to manipulate Kageyama's reactions just for the bragging rights.

 _I mean, who knew_ the _Kageyama could ever feel guilty?_

But it is eclipsed a moment later when he realizes what that means. Kageyama feels responsible for what happened to him. Kageyama thinks it's his fault that Shouyou lost his wings. The realization rocks Shouyou into a daze and he wanders after Kageyama with a stunned expression. Never mind that the very idea of this being his fault is just plain ludicrous since that white-winged bastard attacked _them_ , Shouyou was the one who jumped on him of his own accord the moment he'd hit Kageyama in the first place. The fact that Kageyama doesn't view it the same speaks volumes about their relationship.

Kageyama's always been standoffish, could be downright abrasive on occasion... but he had moments. He's had the feeling for some time, but just now, Shouyou is confident beyond doubt that Kageyama actually does view him as a friend, and one worth fighting for at that. A fond smile tips the corners of his mouth and his eyes crease just a bit at the edges as it blooms genuine. He takes a deep breath and feels his mind ease just a little for the first time in over two days as he hurries after the taller boy with renewed enthusiasm.

"Kageyama!"

The black-haired boy pauses and glances back at him, his scowl still firmly in place and Shouyou can't keep the bright smile from his face.

"Can we stop sometime? I want to figure out what's wrong with your wings."

Kageyama straightens just a touch, his shoulders tightening almost unnoticeably.

"Nothing is wrong with my wings." He says dismissively but Shouyou thinks it sounds more defensive than Kageyama means it to be.

"Liar. You haven't flown once in the last forty-eight hours." He points out confidently.

"So what? Neither have you." He says it on reflex and Shouyou knows he's forgotten for an instant that he's _grounded_ and _can't_ fly. Yep, definitely defensive.

"Yeah, but _I_ have an excuse." He rebuttals, folding his arms.

He knows if he pushes long enough, Kageyama will either cave just to placate him or punch him to get him to lay off. Shouyou is banking on the former since Kageyama feels guilty over all this. Heck, he feels slightly guilty himself for using that against him like this but not enough to quit.

He is rewarded for his efforts a half hour later when Kageyama huffs in complete irritation before stopping and rounding on him. The larger boy stomps up to Shouyou and grabs one of his wrists before dragging him to the riverbank and a shallow area of the clear running river.

Kageyama wades out into ankle deep freezing water and sits down on a large exposed rock, all the while towing Shouyou after him and the redhead can't keep from grinning in victory. He barely gets the smile off his face in time before Kageyama turns and glares up at him for a moment before turning and presenting his back to him.

"You get five minutes." Kageyama growls.

Shouyou resists the urge to rub it in and slowly reaches for a wing. Kageyama tenses just slightly as his fingers brush the long flight feathers before he relaxes again and slacks the wing in his hands. Shouyou runs his fingers along the long bones and tendon-laden covert feather beds, marveling at the feel of them. It strikes home how much he misses his own and he's abruptly fighting back tears. He shakes his head sharply to try and focus.

He continues surveying the wing but can find nothing out of place save for a small abrasion to the back side of the patagial tendon. He frowns slightly. Was he wrong and there really isn't anything amiss with Kageyama's wings? Was he imagining Kageyama's stiff movements and reluctance to fly? Does that mean he's just humoring him right now?

Shouyou runs his hand one last time down the wing, distracted as the long flight feathers tick off his fingertips in a perfect, steady rhythm in time with his movement. One doesn't spring back into place like it should as his hand brushes across it and Shouyou's head tilts. This one is about to drop and it's unusual for Kageyama to have left a loose feather attached. Shouyou deftly pulls it for him, noting with a wry smile that it doesn't even faze him, and places it on the rock beside them, a perfect long black feather.

And then he reaches for the other wing and the reaction is instant and much more pronounced. The moment his fingers touch the long flight feathers, Shouyou sees Kageyama's shoulders tense and the corner of his jaw that he can see goes rigid.

"Jeez. Flinch much?" He murmurs, but inside, he's struggling to collar his alarm.

He has never seen Kageyama so touchy. Even when his dad had broken his ribs that one time in a spar and then sent them to the infirmary, he hadn't been so tense under the nurse's hands. Shouyou gently pries the wing away from Kageyama's shoulder so he can inspect it better. He is glad that the freedom of motion at the shoulder joint is sound, and slowly runs his hand down the covert feather bed.

Kageyama still has the wing bent at the main joint and Shouyou frowns and takes hold of the long flight feathers to pull it all the way open. He jumps sharply when he meets resistance and the dark haired boy full on hisses at him.

 _That's another almost unheard of reaction._

Shouyou can't remember the last time he heard Kageyama actually hiss at someone. A frown marring his face once more, he gently lays a hand across the joint eliciting another half-hiss from the taller boy but he ignores it this time. Shouyou's eyes go wide and his mouth drops. The joint is blazing hot and surprisingly swollen.

"Kageyama! This is a sprain!" He says in shock.

"And? There's nothing I can really do for it out here. That's why I said not to bother." Kageyama growls at him. Shouyou rolls his eyes even as he tries to tease the wing open again.

"No, you said nothing was wrong, moron. This isn't nothing." He grouches at him.

"Ow! Like I said there's not much I can do for it out here, so there was –ouch!—no point in messing with it. Ow! Would you cut it out, dumbass?" He barks and turns to glare icily at Shouyou over his shoulder. The redhead stares back reproachfully.

"Of course there's things you can still do out here. The fastest way to work through a sprain is to move the injured area—carefully." He amends when Kageyama's glare goes feral. He gently tries pulling the wing open once more and continues rambling.

"A sprain means the joint bent farther than it was supposed to and the tendons got stretched out. They swell because blood pools at the point of injury but to really speed up healing, you have to move the injured joint to get blood flowing _through_ it really well, not just going there and stopping. That's also another reason why they wrap a sprain—to help keep the swelling in check. You should have been putting cold compresses on it for the last two days, too." Shouyou says reprovingly before shrugging out of his shirt.

Kageyama stares at him as he soaks it in the river and wraps it around the injured wing joint. The days are warm enough that he doesn't really need it; it's just the nights that get cold.

"This will probably hurt, but it should help a little." He says before pulling the shirt snug and tying it off so it stays there. "Sorry." He murmurs when Kageyama flinches again.

"You should work on moving it as much as possible within your normal range of motion. The more you move it, the looser it will get and it should start feeling better in a couple days, but you will still have to be careful."

He finishes, slowly guiding the wing as far open and closed as it will go with the shirt wrapped around it and apologizing again when he sees Kageyama cringing, the muscles in his arms tight. Finally relenting, he straightens a couple feathers and releases Kageyama's injured wing only to find the larger boy's royal blue eyes boring into him with unusual focus.

"How do you know all this?" He asks and Shouyou pauses before he breaks out an easy smile.

"Oh, that? Noya went through something quite similar a decade ago. I don't know if you remember, but he was stoked when he was given a week off. Asahi was inconsolable because he thought the midair collision was his fault. I swear, Tanaka thought he was going to commit suicide." He laughs and picks up the long black flight feather he'd pulled from Kageyama's other wing with contemplation.

He takes one step and slips on a submerged rock covered in algae and before he can blink, Kageyama has a fierce grip on his arm to steady him. Shouyou's shoulders hunch in embarrassment and he shrugs the black haired boy's hand off.

"I'm fine. It's getting cold standing here in the water, though." He mutters and starts for the bank realizing that what he says is true since he can't feel his feet.

Kageyama shadows him silently, his eyes slightly narrowed, and Shouyou can tell that the taller boy doesn't believe him. As he reaches out for a branch and pulls himself up the rocky bank, a thought hits him. He pauses as his mind ticks through another facet of this mess that he hadn't considered yet.

"I wonder what the others will think when we get back." He says before he has a chance to reconsider it, his scratchy voice growing melancholy. He jumps when Kageyama grabs his arms and he finds himself staring into snapping cobalt eyes.

"It doesn't matter what they think." He growls.

Shouyou shrinks back just a bit with surprise and disappointment. He totally let that one slip, too. Now Kageyama will be watching him all the more the rest of the day again. He plasters a grin back on his face and raises his hands in front of him.

"Yeah, you're probably right…but I was talking about you and how goofy you are going to look with your wing tied up like that. Can you imagine how much heat you are going to take?"

Kageyama's brows instantly draw down into his trademark scowl and Shouyou hopes he's distracted him at least a little.

"If you think I'm wearing your shirt back into the rookery or anywhere within a mile radius of it, you're mental." He says with annoyance, but his eyes are still focused too sharply on him. Shouyou just nods as Kageyama lets him go.

"Yeah, you're probably right. That would ruin your constipated autocratic princeling image." He murmurs and quickly steps around him.

Shouyou knows he's got probably two seconds before Kageyama loses his mind and he hopes to be outside the reach of his arm by then.

"Oi! What'd you just call me, dumbass?" He hears the black haired boy bark after him and he smiles just a bit.

Bickering has always been a great way to divert Kageyama's attention elsewhere and Shouyou feels like it's a surefire bet in getting the taller boy's focus off _him_ now.

He's determined to throw him off because he knows Kageyama doesn't think he's alright… and underneath the bright exterior, Shouyou can't help but agree.


	7. Day Three 2-2

**Level Pair; Day Three 2/2**

Our universe grants every soul a twin—a reflection of themselves. And no matter where they are or how far away they are from each other—even in different dimensions, they will always find one another. ~Julie Dillon

 **Kageyama** watches critically as Hinata pulls his shirt back on, absently analyzing the network of bruises that are starting to turn yellow at the edges as they begin to fade. It had still been a shock when he'd pulled his shirt off today and the ugly black and blue and purple marks glared back at him from his ribs. Kageyama is positive at least a couple of them are probably busted.

The redhead had forced them to pause every half hour the whole rest of the day to re-soak that stupid garment and tie it back around his sprained wing. He'd even gone so far as to give him a regimen of exercises that he insisted Kageyama do each time they stopped. He'd complained constantly, but Hinata had been adamant. It had been easier to just comply and now, Kageyama had to grudgingly admit that while it was definitely still sore, it _was_ already moving a little more feely. At least until he stretched it a little _too_ far. Then it would send him a sharp reminder of how much it disapproved.

"Kageyama?" The redhead turns a preoccupied gaze on him and the larger crow can see him spinning something black between his fingers absently. It takes him a moment to realize it's the feather Hinata had pulled from his wing earlier and he's slightly surprised to see that he'd kept it.

"Did you fly with that injury when you came to find me?"

Kageyama glances back at his face but he can't get a read on the question—can't determine if Hinata is honestly just curious or if this is coming from somewhere a little more precarious. He's doing a good job at masking his unease but there have been moments throughout the day where the façade slips just so and Kageyama gets a glimpse of the turmoil behind Hinata's almond eyes. Honestly, if the kid weren't so expressive, Kageyama doubts he'd have noticed anything at all. But at the moment…Kageyama can't tell if it's real or his mask. He frowns slightly in frustration.

"You were missing." He states as if it were a legitimate answer. Hinata's jaw drops a little.

"Are you stupid? That probably made it ten—no, a hundred times worse, you moron!"

 _Yeah, no kidding,_ he muses sourly and resists the urge to test out his mobility as if to prove a point.

"I could have just left you out here instead." He mutters darkly but it sounds more like a sulk. Even so, it seems to stem Hinata's obnoxious tirade about his poor choices almost entirely and the smaller boy glances down.

"Yeah… thanks for not doing that." He mumbles, his hands fidgeting with the feather.

Kageyama shrugs and eases down against a tree and leans his head back. Closing his eyes, he listens as Hinata shuffles around nearby until his soft footsteps come up and stop beside him. There's a long silence and Kageyama can't help but liken it to the way a parent instinctively knows something is wrong when everything goes too quiet. He fights the urge to open his eyes and see if Hinata has indeed done something stupid.

"Um…" His voice is tiny and embarrassed, but Kageyama doesn't miss it.

He cracks his eyes open to see the redhead standing beside him in the dimming light with hunched shoulders, his hands scrunched in the hem of his shirt, and his gaze carefully trained on the ground by his feet. Without a word, Kageyama reaches out and catches the boy's wrist and mutely pulls him down beside him, welcoming him to stay once again in the shelter of his wings. There's the slightest catch in Hinata's chest, a swallowed sob.

"Thanks." He whispers and Kageyama pulls him a little closer before leaning his head back and closing his eyes once more.

He doesn't know why he feels the need to fend off Hinata's encroaching nightmares in any way he can.

Hinata has never been anything except stupidly optimistic, a bundle of brilliance and energy. It didn't matter if it was in the middle of drills or a Volley game or in the race pits after his father had gotten pissed at them. It didn't matter if something bad had happened or he felt sick or they'd suffered some humiliation or other. It could be the middle of the night, the first day of the year, hell, even when Kageyama or one of the others was ridiculing him for one reason or another— usually his height—he never stopped looking forward. He could single handedly turn an entire game around or bring up their whole unit in two minutes flat. His personality was sunshine given physical form and Kageyama occasionally got completely and irrationally irate with him...but he could never bring himself to hate Hinata.

Everyone else maybe, but not the little redhead.

And as far as he can remember, Hinata was like this since the first day he'd first showed up to their training runs when they were still little. He had trailed Nishinoya into rank one day and all the other crows had crowded around the small kid with crazy orange hair who didn't speak hardly two words of their language. Noya's mother had apparently found him alone in the forest outside the rookery and brought him back home.

The kid had cleaved to Noya like a barnacle on a rock almost instantly despite him being probably a decade or so older, but the crow never seemed to mind. Noya had other siblings, but Hinata had never taken to them the same and none of them were so _clingy_. A week of the kid following him to training wound up with him just joining the group as it was simply easier to do that than try to separate him from Noya.

At the time, Kageyama could barely get over the fact that the shortest crow in their group had somehow attracted an even shorter scrawny and underweight kid who followed him around like a miniature god. He hadn't really seen that brilliance at first. But when Kageyama thought about it now, that bright personality and drive was there even back then.

The first month of training had left the little redhead definitely spent, and nine times out of ten, Noya ended up carrying the crashed out kid back home on his back. Hinata'd never complained and tirelessly worked to get better at everything. He hardly spoke their language but he'd sought out each person for pointers on the things they were best at.

He went to Daichi for help on learning to bank hard from a dead sprint flight and he cornered Tanaka for help with quick reversals and midair grappling. He got Asahi to give him pointers on how to get the most mileage out of a glide while using the least amount of energy and he went to Noya for help on improving all the little agility skills.

And since Kageyama had been playing Volley almost since he was born and was easily the most proficient of them at it, Hinata had come to _him_ for that. The game that was played twenty feet in the air using their wings to smack a ball over a net to the ground on the opposing team's side. Kageyama had been completely put out when his frosty glares and outright dismissals hadn't even fazed the redheaded mass of energy. He'd returned the next day with a ball and Noya beside him.

"He wants you to teach him how to play Volley." Noya had said and Kageyama had wanted to bang his head against the wall. The little brat had apparently thought he didn't understand what he wanted with his communication skills as lacking as they were and so he'd brought Noya to interpret for him. He'd quickly come to find out that that wasn't it at all; Hinata was just stubbornly persistent to a maddening extreme.

Kageyama had adamantly refused at first. Noya had pointed out that he'd have to learn eventually since it was part of their training and there was no one better to teach him since he was the best. When Kageyama still refused, Noya had remarked that having any weak link on their team would be a target when they went up against the other teams, especially Iwaizumi's. At the reminder of the other training group that his father had basically hand-picked for their strengths and compatibility specifically at Volley, Kageyama had wavered before giving in.

Back then, he'd hated Iwaizumi. He'd hated his own teammates, too, but then, he'd hated a _lot_ of people.

Kageyama had been intentionally tough on Hinata, doing everything in his power to try and make him miserable. Daichi had even threatened him with pain if he didn't lighten up at one point. Kageyama can't even recall why he was so angry at the little shrimp, isn't even sure what his goal was by being so hard on him. But whatever he had been shooting for, he'd failed.

Instead, the kid had determinedly progressed with a happy charisma at a frighteningly rapid rate. Once his skills all sharpened—all that diving and banking and agility that he'd worked on with the others—his natural talent had begun to peek through. Suddenly, Hinata was keeping up in their scrimmages, finding openings, and even creating blocks. His plays weren't stellar and he still made a lot of mistakes, but in the staggering wake of his progress over the course of the two months since he'd first walked into their training group, Kageyama'd clung to that with vigor and used it to push and criticize the smaller kid even still.

So Hinata'd gone back to the others once more. He went to Tanaka for attacks, Daichi for defense, Asahi for pointers on serves since Kageyama had downright refused once again, and Noya for the fine tuning of his reflexes and diving. It seemed like it happened almost overnight. Hinata's faults largely disappeared and pretty soon, Kageyama had almost nothing to complain about. What was more, it didn't matter how mad he got at him, how often he yelled at, scolded, or insulted the kid, the redhead was never bothered—as if he were oblivious to all of it. Except he wasn't completely because he always worked to get better at the things Kageyama pointed out.

Hinata might have been the smallest attacker on the team and definitely not the strongest but he had the quickest bursts of speed, the sharpest eyes, nearly even reflexes with Noya, and Kageyama hated to admit it but probably the highest drive of them all. Kageyama had still jumped all over him for the smallest errors...but something else had started happening.

With Hinata in games, the whole team had started to connect and his teammates didn't seem as useless as he'd once thought. Kageyama had been saddled with this group for over a decade and had failed at every turn to get things to work. They'd lost more times than they'd ever won. With Hinata in the game and Kageyama coordinating everything from his setting position, the whole team around him seemed to rise until they were nearly seamless. Everyone got better with each individual gaining their own unique strengths, ones that Kageyama finally recognized and worked to maximize.

In less than a year, their team had risen to its feet and became unbeatable among all of the other youth teams his father had put together. They were placed in brackets with older sentry training groups but it hardly mattered. They only started losing when they were placed against kids who had a couple hundred years on them and who were far superior in speed and power.

It didn't stay that way. Centuries went by and they all grew; everyone got taller, stronger, faster. Hinata managed to gain an inch on Noya. They'd even added the passive Suga at the surprisingly adamant insistence of Daichi, a thrush species with impressive grey wings who had an eye for the game like he did and was the occasional relief for himself. By the time they were hitting seven hundred years, no one could touch them.

And the weapon at the head of that team was the fiery and indomitable little redhead he'd initially written off altogether. He'd become the most versatile player of them all.

And Kageyama has never been able to hate him.

Even those first impressions, the first time the kid had come up and chattered at him in a language he didn't know punctuated by 'Volley', when he wound up in the race pits because of the redhead's antics, even when he found himself looking over his shoulder wondering when Hinata would overtake him, he couldn't hate him.

Hinata is sunshine personified. And he can't stomach that changing. Kageyama is loath to admit it, but he is determined to protect and preserve that side of the small redhead who's long since fallen asleep against him, wings or no wings. He doesn't really understand why he wants to comfort and reassure him, he only knows that a silent and brokenly brooding Hinata is wrong.

Kageyama's eyes crack open in the dark and he stares up at his injured wing. The redhead's insight into the sprain makes Kageyama absently wonder at how little he actually knows about Shouyou Hinata.

They've been great comrades, unbeatable teammates, and horrible punishment magnets mostly due to Hinata's ability to draw him into a bickering match— something only the redhead can do on a regular basis. But beyond that… he's not sure. He knows Hinata's tastes tend to run sweeter than the rest of them, knows that he drools when he sleeps, and he knows how to read the other boy pretty well, but he's an open book as far as that goes. Kageyama is sure Noya probably knows the most about him; he's been raised as one of his siblings since their shortest crow's mom brought him home.

Kageyama moves the wing experimentally now that Hinata is asleep. He lets out a lingering sigh. It is stiffening up again and he can see that the feathers aren't nearly as glossy as they normally are. Kageyama's mind goes blank.

 _Wait. It's dark. I didn't start any fire._

How the hell is he seeing his wings? They are lit with a soft glow that emanates from… in front of him? He glances down to where Hinata is and his face goes slack. _Oh..._

 _OH._

…

 _Well isn't this just great?_


	8. Day Five 1-2

**Level Pair; Day Five 1/2**

We are two abysses – a well staring at a sky. ~Fernando Pessoa

 **Shouyou** can tell Kageyama is off. He was off before and he'd _thought_ it was just Kageyama feeling guilty. But he has no idea what to make of this. It's been going for two days now… ever since Kageyama accidentally woke him in the middle of the night. He's pretty sure it was accidental anyway.

He'd been violently yanked from his slumber when Kageyama went so thoroughly _rigid_ under him that Shouyou's instincts pulled him awake in an instant. Wondering what made the taller boy that completely tense bodily in two seconds flat, Shouyou sat bolt upright, forgetting about his back and reflexively cringing at the motion. It didn't stop him from looking around blindly in the dark for whatever threat apparently caused Kageyama to freak.

But when he'd felt Kageyama jump in response to _his_ reaction, it was such an odd and _oblique_ turn that it had totally thrown Shouyou for a loop.

"Kageyama?" He'd asked into the dark.

"Yeah?" His voice had sounded oddly strained somehow.

"Um… what's going on? Are you alright?" He'd asked tentatively, completely confused.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." He'd managed, as if there were a painful object in his throat he was trying to get the words around.

Shouyou'd frowned even though he knew Kageyama wouldn't see it.

"You don't sound fine. What's wrong?"

"It's…fine." He'd said again, a little more controlled and Shouyou'd scowled. 'Fine' his pin feathers; he'd almost been able to hear the other boy's heart still racing.

"You're a poor liar."

"It's nothing. I thought it was something but there's nothing. Go back to sleep." He'd mumbled, but Shouyou had been wide awake by that point and couldn't let it go so easily.

"You can tell me if something is wrong." He'd said softly. He'd felt Kageyama shift uncomfortably and sighed. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

The other boy had scoffed.

"Tch. Shut up and go back to sleep, dumbass." He'd growled and gently pulled Shouyou back against him.

Shouyou hadn't fought, but he _was_ perplexed on a level he didn't think possible. He'd tried getting Kageyama to talk a couple more times but the taller boy wasn't having it.

And ever since, he'd been even more withdrawn than normal. Kageyama not talking wasn't that unusual, but saying virtually nothing at all kind of was. That usually only happened when Shouyou had managed to seriously tick him off.

But really, Shouyou's major red flag is that he's only been able to draw him into one bickering match. Kageyama could be mad enough at him that he couldn't see straight and Shouyou could still lure him into one. He was always so easy to bait into them that whenever their unit wanted to set up a prank, Hinata was their go-to accomplice to distract him while they activated it— like the time they greased the Volley ball just ahead of a scrimmage. Kageyama had initially barked at Tanaka about dinking around with the ball when Shouyou had stepped in and pulled him into one of their rounds of banter even as Tanaka coated the ball right behind him. Kageyama hadn't been amused when he'd stepped up to serve.

But most of his barbs have rolled off Kageyama as if he isn't even hearing them now. That isn't to say that Kageyama has stopped watching him like a hawk… it's gotten worse, actually. He is _always_ watching him now.

They'd stopped yesterday for a short break and he'd crashed out for a catnap just to rejuvenate so they could keep going and found Kageyama focused on him with an alarming intensity when he woke fifteen minutes later. It seems like every time he turns around, the taller boy is watching him. Kageyama has basically kept a visual on him at all times and it's honestly disconcerting.

But it's different from before. It is like Kageyama is watching him while completely focused internally on whatever is turning in his head. And Shouyou _is_ convinced there is something that Kageyama is trying to figure out or work through. When he _isn't_ watching Shouyou, there is a frown of frustration that creases his face and his vision glazes and goes distant. Shouyou'd tried once more to get him to talk about whatever had him so engrossed last night but with no success.

 _Stupid stubborn Kageyama._

It's getting late again and Shouyou's frustration is wearing on him. He eyes Kageyama where he's rinsing off in the river with a frown. Normally, if Kageyama was brooding over something, he'd have found Hinata at some point and gotten into a sparring match until he felt better. They both would have a few bruises but Kageyama would be at ease. But he's done nothing like that this time. Maybe he should see just how much he can rattle the moron and see if he can't get it out of him. Every time he's let something pertaining to his lack of wings slip, it's gotten a swifter reaction, right?

 _Let's start there._

Shouyou plods over to the river and picks out a comfortable dry spot before sitting down cross legged with his hands in his lap. He's a couple feet from Kageyama and knows that the taller boy knows he's there.

"Do you know what I think I will miss the most?" He asks wistfully and Kageyama goes still. 

_Well that's a start_ , he muses idly before continuing without any prompt.

"I think it's probably gotta be Volley. I'll miss going out for the morning flight with you all, and our races and zipping through the trees, even the punishments probably… but Volley is something else entirely. The thrill of when we score, or block one of their shots, or when we come together to save a good hit they made, or just the exhilaration of being able to push myself to my limits and not want to quit... I think playing with you and the guys—that's what I will miss the most."

Shouyou finishes and saying the words out loud are having more of an effect on himself than he would have liked; his chest is tight and his eyes are burning and maybe this wasn't the brightest idea.

Kageyama straightens slightly but his head stays bowed, his wet hair hiding his gaze. Shouyou isn't sure if this is the reaction he was looking for, but he's committed to this disaster already.

And he doesn't think he can stop until it's all out anyway.

"I still feel them, you know. It's like I'm dreaming but know I'm asleep and will wake up eventually and everything will be normal. They aren't there anymore, but they still _feel_ like they are."

His voice cracks and he doesn't think he could meet Kageyama's gaze in any capacity even if he wanted to right now but he can't stop.

"Either they just hurt or I wake up in the morning and need to stretch them out so bad but I can't… or they are cramping from being pent up or they itch or I'm losing a feather or something. There's _always_ something."

He knows he's failed to keep his composure, can feel the tears leaking down his cheeks and his voice has completely bailed on him. His gaze keeps clouding over as more of them leak from his eyes and he has no idea what to do now.

Finally, Kageyama moves. He takes three steps and drops down beside him on the bank. Shouyou can see out of his periphery that Kageyama isn't looking at him. He's staring straight ahead, a tightness in his face and movements.

"What do they feel like right now?"

The question is quiet and scratchy and Shouyou knows he's struggling, too. Shouyou pauses a moment and then a broken bark of laughter escapes him. Kageyama finally turns to eye him warily.

"They feel jumbled to hell." He murmurs, the tears still running even though a smile breaks through the sorrow. "They feel like that time a few months back after we all got a round in the race pits for that incident with the egg. You and Noya tied my hands and feet basically into a straitjacket and hung me from one of the tall trees on the cliff over that updraft spin point. And left me there for three hours. I spent another two putting all my feathers back in order after Daichi and Suga came and got me down."

"You broke an egg over Tanaka's head and threw another at Noya. The third hit my father." Kageyama deadpans. Shouyou can't help the cheeky smirk that breaks his sodden face.

"That wasn't my fault. The Grand King walked in right behind you and you ducked."

Kageyama scoffs but the redhead can hear the smile behind it.

"He walked into a circus. Tanaka had it on his head, Noya had it across his back, and you were holding another. We were headed for the pits regardless; the fact that he ended up wearing it, too, just made it worse."

"Eh, it wasn't so bad. We were only in there for fifteen minutes."

Kageyama's face sours slightly.

"For being the one who started that, I'm still salty over how you lost only five flight feathers."

"That's right… you and Noya were the ones regrowing half your wings over the next week. I guess that means I was just better than you… although I probably spent the most time in there so that would make sense."

Shouyou hears Kageyama snort. And it's so strange because Kageyama never even laughed when it happened because he'd been so peeved, that Shouyou can't help but laugh himself. He knows it's probably because despite how messed up that day had been, it was still a thousand times simpler than now.

And like a contagious yawn, his humor spurs the reaction in the other boy beside him and in a moment, Kageyama is laughing with him. It is a surreal moment for Shouyou because he doesn't really remember a time Kageyama has ever _really_ laughed. But it's bittersweet and subsides all too quickly leaving silence once more.

Yes… even if that day had been hell by the end, it was still simple. Shouyou draws his knees up in front of him and wraps his arms around them.

"Kageyama…" he whispers, his heart breaking all over again, "it feels like the world has shattered. Like the sky was really always glass and I finally fell through it."

There's a long moment, punctuated only by a soft sob that escapes him. And then Kageyama puts an arm around his shoulders, mindful—ever mindful—of his destroyed wing base, and gently leans his head down until it's resting against his own fuzzy orange one. And for an action that is so uncharacteristic and totally _foreign_ coming from Kageyama, it doesn't feel the least bit awkward to Shouyou and he finally gives up and just weeps.

"I know. It sucks. I can't even pretend to know what you are going through." Kageyama says, his voice rough and the redhead gets the impression that he's fighting to keep his control, too. "But I promise, Shouyou. It will be okay."

The redhead blinks in surprise. Kageyama has _never_ called him by his first name. But he's too much a mess right now to be able to form any sensible response and a few moments later, Kageyama is filling the silence again anyway.

"For the record… I think I will miss playing Volley with you the most, too. We all will. I don't think we will ever be the same team."

It's not a direct acknowledgement… the world will probably be on fire before Kageyama offers something like that. But in that moment, no matter how subdued, it is simultaneously the greatest yet most painful compliment he's ever received.


	9. Day Five 2-2

**Level Pair; Day Five 2/2**

Safety lies in silence. It is easier to rectify what you miss by silence, than to secure what you lose by speaking. ~Ali ibn Abi Talib

 **It takes longer** for Hinata's breath to even out indicating that he's finally asleep, and Kageyama is struggling to find that same sense of peace.

Level pairs, his mother had called them.

Two people who complimented each other so well, they were a perfect match. They were called level pairs, his mother had said, because they both brought out the best in each other and limited the worst, inadvertently bringing each other to the same point. They would rise and fall together, grow stronger or weaker in direct correlation with the other half. They could heal each other—and harm each other if they weren't careful.

But they were a story told to children and Kageyama had never really _believed_ any of it. They were less than legend; they were myth. He didn't know of _anyone_ who'd ever found their leveler. But… as Hinata drew in a deep breath and peacefully released it against his side, Kageyama saw it again.

The sad patch of feathers that remained around his destroyed wing base began emanating a soft golden-orange glow, the barest light reflecting off his fiery hair. Not for the first time, he tiredly watched them with fascinated awe. He was at a point where he even expected it, but it still floored him.

This had been a part of his mother's stories. This soft light… was 'binding', the healing potential of a leveler. It required complete and inherent trust on both sides and only really activated when both were content. With that strict requirement on serenity, it usually meant it happened when they slept. At first, Kageyama had convinced himself it wasn't binding, that it was just the capacity of healthy sleep. And weren't all the pairs in his mom's stories always male and female? That certainly seemed more logical, but hey what did he know? Still, there was no way.

Except… when Hinata had crashed out for a short while at midday yesterday, they hadn't glowed like this. When they'd glowed last night again, Kageyama had confirmed that it only happened when they were in contact. And it was then that it finally hit home.

 _Shouyou Hinata is his level pair._

And this glow, this binding, was the effect of being in contact with Kageyama. The depth of implicated potential had initially set him spinning. His mother had said there was no limit to the healing or harming capabilities of levelers, but none of the characters in her stories had ever been shorn of their wings completely. Still, Kageyama desperately _wanted_ to believe. If his mother's stories were true and they perpetuated this long enough, Hinata should eventually regrow a full set of wings, right?

The very thought had nearly spurred him to spill it all to the redhead when he'd broken down earlier today—he'd wanted to so badly… except he couldn't. Not yet. Perhaps if he could have been sure Hinata would fully recover, he'd have caved and told him, but he refused to give him false hope only to crush it later if it wasn't possible.

But something else bothered him. Shouldn't they have noticed the _other_ side effect of this connection? If this was 'binding', then the flip side was 'breaking'.

When they fought—really fought, their wings were said to burn. Neither he nor Hinata had ever set their wings on fire and they'd _definitely_ not always gotten along. It might have been that Hinata was simply just that difficult to really rattle.

Kageyama had a plethora of times he'd nearly lost his mind with the other boy—like the instance Hinata had spoken of earlier today about when they'd tied him up and left him hanging in that ridiculously windy and chaotic updraft. Even if Kageyama'd been irrationally pissed over it all himself, Hinata didn't seem to notice. He'd come back the next day and, being the sweets fiend he is, he'd wanted them all to go back to that point because he'd seen a large patch of blueberries in a clearing that he'd wanted to collect. No one took him up on that but he'd still come back the following morning having gone and gotten them himself for Noya's mom. Kageyama had to grudgingly admit those were some of the best bars he'd ever tried.

No, he'd had to scour his memory and weed out all those moments and find the absolute worst ones he could recall. There were two exceptionally distinct incidents that Kageyama quite vividly remembered as having been particularly volatile, but they'd never wound up with scorched wings. He remembered feeling like absolute crap for the two days following both of those unusually severe and blunt arguments, his whole body just sluggish...both of their performances had plummeted, and Kageyama had even felt sick to his stomach after the immediate clash. True, he'd molted an unusual number of rough-edged and scraggly feathers that had oddly crisped shafts both times and his wings had been ridiculously lethargic and maybe even a bit sore, but they'd never 'burned' per se.

He knew their legitimatespats affected Hinata probably just as much since they were both horribly off and the redhead was never as bright until they'd worked their crap out again. Hinata had occasionally dimmed just a bit whenever Kageyama had nailed home a particularly sharp barb on a painful topic—Hinata had few of them so they were hard to find, but every now and then, Kageyama had stumbled across one.

Like when they'd lost a Volley game in a very uncharacteristic way and Kageyama had angrily remarked on his own choices as mistakes rather than looking forward. He still had no idea why Hinata got so mad over his words but they'd barely spoken for two days and had both been in a hell of a rut the entire time. They'd finally collided in one of their drills and they'd both started swinging. By the time Tanaka and Daichi had pulled them apart, Kageyama had gained a split lip, but he'd returned the favor with a quickly forming shiner under one of Hinata's eyes. But when their groupmates had released them… they'd been back to normal and quickly rebounded from there.

The other time was when Kageyama had refused to help him master a sharp reversal move that required intense precision and effort. The redhead had lost it, going on about how he needed to get better and why was he trying to prevent that when all Kageyama had really wanted that day was to be left alone. It had escalated into another full blown argument that, skies above, his own father had separated.

He'd been so mad he couldn't see straight, and Kageyama _had_ thrown up later that night and been excused the next morning from training. He remembered how many of those stupid scruffy feathers he'd lost that time… he'd nearly regrown a complete new set over the course of the next week, his feathers all falling out with those crisped shafts as if they'd been burned from the inside out. And… if he remembered right, Hinata's had looked quite shabby, too. But…

But.

He didn't recall their wings ever catching fire. And it wasn't an aspect of this level pair thing he much wanted to test out either. They'd probably had so few major fights because no matter how justified he'd felt in those arguments, he'd hated being at odds with the little redhead even more.

Kageyama had gotten good at recognizing when the smaller boy was on the verge of a meltdown when he'd hit a little too close to a sensitive point, and had grudgingly learned how to drop something and walk away because of it. The taller crow eyes Hinata's slightly illuminated face and draws in a deep breath. Yeah, Kageyama is good without more of those. He will stick with the binding side of this deal if he can.

Though, he doesn't know how he will keep quiet about it indefinitely. He's pretty sure he'll eventually let something slip and he hates to admit it, but Hinata is actually frighteningly attentive _and_ perceptive. It's a combination that forces Kageyama to always be on point… especially if he wants to avoid an interrogation. Actually, he probably already knows something is up. Honestly, the kid can tell if he hadn't eaten that morning or if he's moving with a sore muscle, for feathers' sake.

Kageyama has no desire to visit disappointment to this already very different and traumatized Hinata with the promise of a potential miracle if he can't deliver it. He doesn't think he could stomach the despair that would surely paint the smaller boy's face if he really won't ever be able to fly again. His forehead creases slightly as he watches the redhead's chest rise and fall with even, measured breaths.

There's one other reason he doesn't want to tell him… because he doesn't want to tell anyone. It's the reason he'd ended up waking Hinata that first night, the reason he'd been struck with such a shock of terror. It has made him that much more adamant that Hinata _must_ stay with him. His mother had animatedly stressed to his very young mind one more catch to being one half of a level pair, and even if her enthusiasm was just for dramatic storytelling, it still rings loudly and pervasively in the back of his head.

Just as they rise and fall in strength, they live and die as well. It is something of a running wives tale, a tasteless joke among the older crows that if someone dies randomly, it's because the person's leveler bought it. His father is the leader of their murder and as blatantly proven by the attack the other day, they have enemies. If that white-winged bastard had actually killed Hinata, then maybe he wouldn't be here now either. Really it is a miracle they are both alive. If someone decides to take him out, they only need to kill Shouyou and right now, Shouyou is vulnerable. It's a thought that agitates all of his nerves into a riot.

The reason for his silence is simple. If no one knows they are a level pair, no one will ever have a reason to go after his other half.


	10. Day Six 1-3

**Level Pair; Day Six 1/3**

I can't promise to fix all your problems, but I can promise you won't have to face them all alone. ~Anonymous

 **Shouyou** is busy collecting berries with more cheer than he probably should given the circumstances, but he is hungry and he is sure the gods put raspberries on this planet with him in mind specifically. He likes most sweet things and berries are no exception… and of all the different types, raspberries are his favorite.

He had woken earlier than normal this morning, his eyes drifting open to the large black wings that circled them and in the gray of early morning, they appeared to reflect the first rays of light with a deep blue hue. They looked so sleek and awesome and when he'd glanced up he was surprised to find Kageyama _hadn't_ been up yet. It was a first since… well since.

Shouyou had glanced up at him still drowsy himself, and he couldn't help but flash a lazily fond smile. He knew Kageyama had been pulling late nights and early mornings so he could sleep sound, so seeing how he'd finally crashed himself out after what—five days—of deprivation gave him relief on some level. He'd carefully wiggled out of his grasp and thought he'd nearly woken him when he'd rolled to the side, but when he'd just pulled in a deep breath and resumed a rhythmic pattern, Shouyou had sat back to look at him.

He'd seen Kageyama sleep before—they did share a barracks now that they were in formal training as a sentry unit, but Shouyou had never really paused to take in the sight. With his wings wrapped around him like a cocoon to conserve any last tendrils of warmth, one arm had curled up under his head in lieu of a pillow. His wispy black hair stuck up in tufts but what Shouyou had to marvel at was his expression.

Kageyama's waking expressions consisted, in order of most used: frowns, glares, scowls, and a rare and decidedly unsettling grin that could still be somehow argued as a grimace. He didn't have a serene one. The expression on Kageyama's face while he slept would only appear when Kageyama wasn't conscious. There was no tension in the taller boy's face. His brows weren't pulled down and scrunched under a glower. There were no creases around his eyes because he'd narrowed them with annoyance. Instead of his lips being pursed with disdain, they were parted slightly and slack. Seeing such a look of mellow calm, Shouyou didn't have the heart to disturb him.

So he'd determined that since Kageyama had been doing most of the foraging for the past few days, he'd return the favor while the black haired boy caught up on some extremely needed sleep. He'd been careful to venture always within earshot of the river so he'd be able to find his way back just fine and he didn't intend to be gone long either; he was sure Kageyama would probably go mental on him if he woke and Shouyou wasn't around. He had spotted the raspberries and couldn't resist; his shirt is nearly full in front of him and he can't wait to bring them back to Kageyama.

He withdraws from the berry canes and steps back. Straightening up, he gingerly stretches as tall as he can, noting that his back must finally be doing a little better since he doesn't get a stab of pain with the motion. Kageyama had been religiously checking it every night before they sleep and he'd said just yesterday that the wound had pretty much closed over. It's still very much there and sore and achy and he still jumps when Kageyama prods it here and there during his inspections, but on the whole it seems to be healing well and fast.

 _Now if only my mind will heal, too_.

He thinks morosely and his almond eyes drift open to stare out at the sky through a break in the trees. And he goes still.

His eyes are sharp and he knows it— the sharpest in their unit and possibly all of the Karasuno sentry ranks— but he still doubts his vision. He blinks just to make sure it's not in his head. And when the figure that glides through the air in the distance remains, he sucks in a gasp. His limbs shake and he doesn't have wings anymore… but he has his voice.

The impulse hits him and he doesn't even pause. He takes two steps, berries forgotten on his shirt on the ground, and _screeches_. It is perhaps the loudest and furthest he's ever tried to project his voice. He's determined to get it to that black shape. He's desperate to get it there.

He waits a few seconds to see if there's any change in its path and his gut twists when it doesn't. He opens his mouth and lets fly another ear-splitting cry, intently focused on that small silhouette in the distance. But a moment later, he jumps when he hears heavy wingbeats coming in fast.

A dark shape comes hurtling through the trees and for an instant, he's terrified. But then Kageyama explodes over the berry brambles and plummets toward him, his clothes disheveled and cobalt eyes wild.

"Hinata!" He yells as he crashes beside him, his wings splayed aggressively as he grabs his shoulders. "What's wrong? Is someone here?"

Shouyou stares at him.

"What? No, there's—"

"What's the matter, are you hurt?" He cuts him off and glances around them suspiciously.

"No, I'm fine, but Kageyama—"

"I heard you just now. What happened?" He asks and Shouyou frowns before shoving his hands away.

"Listen!" He barks up at the taller boy and Kageyama focuses on him solidly in surprise.

"I'm fine." He says emphatically before pointing to the tree gap. "Look! Do you see him?" He asks, his excitement getting the better of him.

Kageyama blinks before hesitantly looking where Shouyou points and the redhead comes up beside him to line up his direction of sight with his arm.

"See it?" He asks again. Kageyama is breathing hard but when he catches a hitch in his lungs, Shouyou knows he's spotted it. "That," Shouyou says with smug confidence, "is a sentry."

Kageyama blinks before turning to look at him.

"We are getting close! I tried to get his attention, but I don't think I was loud enough. He didn't—"

"You really are an idiot." Kageyama growls at him and he pulls up short.

Kageyama has one of his glares from hell that he only pulls out for when someone _seriously_ fucks up. Getting a stint in the race pits doesn't even warrant this intensity. Kageyama is downright pissed.

"What? Why?" He asks defensively and takes a step back. Kageyama closes the distance, his wings spread imposingly and his burning gaze only growing hotter.

"Because every creature within a league of here heard you. Anything that didn't know our location does now, and you failed to alert your target. In case you forgot, we aren't exactly prepared for hostile visitors." He snaps and Shouyou pales, his stomach doing a flip. He hadn't even considered that. He shrinks back from him and his gaze finds his feet.

"S...Sorry… What do we do?" He asks in a small voice.

"We move." Kageyama says bluntly and stalks by him obviously expecting him to follow. His wings snap open and closed once and Shouyou knows he's still really angry. Shouyou is reaching for his shirt with a frown at the berries and feeling foolish for even wanting to go get food this morning when his hand pauses.

"Hey Kageyama, you just flew all the way here, didn't you?" He asks tentatively.

" _You_ sure as hell weren't at camp." Comes the sharp reply.

Shouyou glances at him, doing his best to ignore how his accusatory tone stings.

"Then… your wing must be feeling a bit better. _You_ can catch the sentry." He says and Kageyama's wings rustle in agitation.

"No way."

"Why not? You got here in no time. I'm sure you can catch a scouting crow."

"I'm not leaving you here alone." He barks and Shouyou flinches just a bit.

He knows Kageyama won't budge and it's really getting under his skin. His stomach turns on him and he frowns. Even though it won't make a difference, he can't help lashing out a little.

"You're the one who needs to be back more than me! I'm grounded, Kageyama! I'm useless now… but you are supposed to lead the murder someday. _You_ have to make it back home."

He feels his eyes sting and he hears Kageyama's steps get closer again and he wonders if the taller boy's going hit him or something. Shouyou doesn't want to look up and see how much angrier he's made him. Kageyama's hand circles his arm and pulls him forward a step.

"I will. But so will you." Kageyama's voice is stiff and Shouyou refuses to meet his gaze. "And you aren't useless. If you ever say something so stupid again, I swear, I'll ground _myself_ , because I'd be just as foolish for believing in someone like that and therefore unfit to lead the damn murder anyway."

Shouyou's gaze leaps to Kageyama's in shock, his mouth dropping open. There's a long moment where Kageyama just stares at him, his brow still pulled down in a massive scowl but it doesn't look scalding like before.

"Close your mouth, dumbass. You're a bird, not a fish. Grab your fruit and let's get going. We have serious ground to cover."

Shouyou blinks at him uncomprehendingly before a small, sheepish smile tugs at his mouth. Secretly gratified that Kageyama even noticed his efforts to pitch in, he nods and reaches for the shirt and raspberries once more.


	11. Day Six 2-3

**Level Pair; Day Six 2/3**

A good friend is a connection to life, a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~Lois Wyse

 **Kageyama** is taking them away from the river.

Shouyou was right, his sprained wing joint is doing better— marginally. He has to grudgingly admit that the redhead was correct and all those exercises he's been going through five times a day have really loosened it up. That's not to say it's back to normal… the stupid thing still hurts and it definitely lets him know if he makes a wrong move. But it hadn't even been a concern when he'd been jarred awake this morning by Hinata's screech.

He'd snapped awake so fast and was instantly looking for his companion in such a frenzy, his heart still skips a beat when he thinks about it now. The only thing he'd really determined was that someone had his redheaded shrimp and Hinata was in trouble. When the second screech split the air, he never noticed his feet leave the ground. His mind was so scattered with panic and lingering confusion borne of the remnants of drowsiness that his thought process consisted of 'Find Hinata.' Exclusively.

He never paused to consider whether the redhead's assailant would be one or fifty people, or that it might be no one at all. He'd never bothered to come up with any type of plan or strategy. When he'd found him and realized what was actually going on when Hinata had pointed out the sentry silhouette, he'd mentally freefallen for several seconds before he felt fury.

Honestly, it wasn't just at Hinata… actually, not really at Hinata much at all, but he was the person in front of him when he lost his temper. It hadn't even really been anger so much as the backlash of rampant, mind-numbing fear. He'd snapped at him and quickly regretted it as the redhead's excited expression had fallen. And then Hinata's self-depreciation had bled through his words more than the he'd realized and it had made Kageyama want to cringe, his entire chest tightening painfully.

 _Useless._

Shouyou thought he was useless. It had made him angry all over again but with that uncomfortable knowledge in his head this time, he'd collared his ire in a stranglehold, but it wasn't quite enough to curtail all notion of rebuke and he'd firmly informed the redhead where he stood on _that_ particular matter.

But the smaller boy's mood swing in the immediate wake of it did set Kageyama quite off balance. It was as if that morning's scare had never even happened. Hinata was quieter than he'd have considered normal, but his buoyant personality seemed to have returned and Kageyama had no idea how it had happened given that he'd all but verbally thrashed him that morning.

The smaller redhead is always surprising him. It's always been this way— if Kageyama expected one reaction, there was a fifty-fifty chance that Shouyou would do something the complete opposite. And it's always baffled him. He can't help but watch Hinata for any clues at the shift as he picks his way through the underbrush ahead of him. He's shoving his way through the bushes and shrubs and Kageyama is focused on his back where his wings used to be with frustration because he _can't seem to figure Hinata out_.

And Hinata disappears out of sight with a yelp.

Kageyama's thoughts fracture and his limbs leap to life. He's blowing through those bushes in a heartbeat just like this morning, needing to get a visual back on the redhead. But his pulse and nerves are humming for no reason. Hinata sits in a little gully where cattails and swampgrasses grow in three inches of standing water. He's wet again and Kageyama hears him swear under his breath. It makes the corner of his mouth twitch as he drops down beside him and pulls him back to his feet, even as he takes a deep breath to steady his reaction to losing sight of him.

"You are sure this is the right way? I thought you said you knew where we were when you went up for a peek this morning." Hinata complains and Kageyama helps him up the other side of the little washout with a scowl.

"I do. The river we've been following is the Torono. The Karasuno flows into it not much further upstream and our rookery isn't that far beyond that." He murmurs defensively.

Hinata had suggested that since his wing was functioning again that he try getting a bearing and a heading of which way to go. He had and while he supposes he shouldn't be surprised with how far they've come, they are off course a bit and still probably a good day's hard push before they'll be into rookery territory where most major threats can safely be disregarded. They should actually be hitting the Karasuno river soon and he thinks he might just be able to hear it not too far off.

"Kageyama."

Hinata's hand finds his wrist with a tension that makes him pause once they crest the other side of the gully.

"I'm pretty sure there's something out here."

Kageyama blinks before starting forward once more.

"It's been following us since mid morning." He says lowly and Hinata looks at him with a questioning glance. Honestly, Kageyama is surprised it's taken him this long to notice. "I'm not sure what it is, but it knows we are here."

The redhead's almond eyes dart out around them again, searching intently.

"Is that why you've set a blistering pace?" He asks lightly but Kageyama sees the tension at the corner of his mouth. The taller boy nods.

"It's not really doing anything; just following. If we can get into range of our rookery, we should be okay."

Hinata's head tilts slightly.

"I think it's a cat." He says mildly.

Kageyama turns toward him with his own inquisitive glance but doesn't break stride.

"Why's that?"

"I think I saw an ear. And it has gold eyes." He says.

 _Well, his vision isn't failing him,_ Kageyama muses. He'd only gotten the impression of a shadow over a hill a few times.

"So it's a gold cat?" He asks and boosts Hinata over a large fallen tree.

"No." He grunts before dropping on the other side while Kageyama bats his wings twice to reach the same point, his one wing offering only minimal protest. "It's black. It's _eyes_ are gold."

Kageyama doubts the wisdom of carrying on this conversation with a _cat_ wandering around since they have stellar hearing but then again, it hasn't attacked them yet. And he has to think that Hinata's known it's been around for at least a little while now with how calm this exchange is. He's willing to trust Hinata's intuition; he probably has more insight than Kageyama does in any case.

The feline keeps pace with them for another half hour before they reach the Karasuno River. The sun is starting to drop in the sky, but Kageyama is reluctant to stop. They already have one thing tailing them and he doesn't want to take any chances.

"We have to cross the river don't we."

He looks over at Hinata to see his face a bit pinched, his gaze focused on the moving water. Kageyama glances across, his limbs itching and he wishes they weren't stopped here like this. They are backed up against a river with some cat behind them… it's a good ambush opportunity.

"Yeah… rookery territory is less than a day away on the other side."

"Kageyama."

There's a hitch in the redhead's voice, the slightest waver, that makes Kageyama turn back to him with more serious attention.

"I don't want to go in the water." He says quietly, his almond eyes never leaving the river. And for an instant, Kageyama is annoyed.

"You've been in and out of the water constantly the last five days and now you don't want to get wet?" He asks incredulously.

"It's not that. And we were never in anything over a few inches." He replies, melancholy filtering into his tone and Kageyama looks at him closer.

His jaw is a bit too tight, his shoulders pulled a little inward. His eyes follow the small swirls in the water with rapt focus and really, his face is quite pale. It hits Kageyama like a fist to the gut.

 _Hinata is afraid._

"Are you ok?" He asks stupidly, because he's obviously not.

"I guess. I just… I don't want to go in the water." He finally looks away and to a seedling by his feet, his hands menacing the bottom of his shirt. "I didn't know if I was going to come back up last time." He says.

It is a blatant reminder that this whole mess is leaving lasting mental scars, not just physical, and Kageyama is quick to try to ease his discomfort.

"I'll carry you."

The redhead looks up at him in surprise.

"But your wing—"

"Will be fine the fifty feet across the river." He cuts him off, neatly hijacking his agitated thought.

"Are you sure?" He asks and he looks like that uncertain little kid who had followed Noya into training that first time that Kageyama remembers so well.

"Yeah. Let's go."

He pulls him forward and reaches around to secure a solid hold under his arms and around his chest. Hinata doesn't protest but he does tense up.

"Why did you take the river before, anyway? You had to have known where you were headed?" He asks to distract him as he starts moving his wings.

His shoulders tense as he beats them harder. It's been a long time since he's flown supporting an entire other person like this so it takes a moment and a lot more effort before they start to rise. Hinata's hands find a death grip on his arms as they leave the ground.

"It seemed like the best option at the time." He murmurs, his gaze firmly fixed below them as they leave the tree cover and breach the open gap over the river. "I figured if he was anything like us, he wasn't going in after me and well… I didn't really have wings anymore to hinder me." He says and suddenly Kageyama is sorry he brought it up.

"It was awful. I couldn't right myself, I kept hitting tree branches underwater, and my shirt got snagged on one at one point, too. I didn't think I would make it."

Kageyama doesn't say any more since he's already dredged up one nightmare… and the opposite bank is only another twenty feet away but, man, his wings and back are starting to burn.

He is surprised it takes this much effort to carry the smaller boy; he's done plenty of weighted flight drills and Hinata really isn't heavy at all so this shouldn't be that hard. They'd even done deadweight carries, but there had always been rope that secured them to their dangling counterpart, not just the cumbersome hold like he has with the redhead now. And perhaps most critical of all, he'd also not been injured, sleep deprived, and surviving off a severely limited vegan diet for six days either, he reminds himself.

He's losing altitude and is ridiculously relieved when the rocks of the opposite bank slide by beneath him. He folds his wings and drops them on the bank just outside the moving water's reach, his lungs pulling in heavy breaths and his wings and shoulders pulsing with a burning tightness from the effort. And his one wing is sending him zinging reminders that it isn't really healed yet.

"There." He says as he releases the redhead, but he's out of breath. The whole thing lasted maybe twenty seconds but it feels like it took much longer.

The redhead steps away and turns to look up at him.

"Your wing seems a lot better than even just a couple days ago. I remember how swollen it was and how you could barely move it so I'm surprised it's doing so well now." He murmurs. Kageyama shrugs around his burning lungs.

"The exercises were your idea." He says, pulling in a deep breath and leaning forward to brace himself for a moment against his own knees. Besides… it isn't necessarily doing _that_ well.

"That's true, I guess…" He says as if he's distracted before he glances back at the river. "You know… I don't know if I should really go back." Hinata says. Kageyama instantly bristles.

"Idiot." He puffs, still trying to even out his breathing. "I told you not to say— stupid things like that." He says between intakes. "We are going back together."

"But I will be the only person without wings. I don't know if I can explain it. Everyone will stare or pity me."

Kageyama straightens and blinks at him, his patience running thin under the discomfort of fatigue.

"I won't." He says caustically. There's a long moment that stretches between them and then Hinata laughs.

"Of course not. Let's go." He says and the mood is passed.

Kageyama is left standing in awe of the about face the redhead just pulled for the second time today.

 _How the hell does he do that?_

Still mystified, he huffs and treks after him, ever careful to keep him within easy reaching distance.


	12. Day Six 3-3

**Level Pair; Day Six 3/3**

Your soulmate is not someone who comes into your life peacefully. It is someone who comes to make you question things, who changes your reality, someone that marks a before and after in your life. It is not the human being everyone has idealized, but an ordinary person, who manages to revolutionize your world in a second. ~Anonymous

 **The last couple hours** of light fall quickly and while the river seemed to stall their tail initially, Kageyama is sure it's back again as they stop. Hinata confirms it a little later but he seems a bit more unsettled.

"There's more than one now." He says softly. Kageyama can feel the feathers between his wings stand on end at his declaration, but nods just the same.

"We can't move at night. We'll sleep in shifts." The taller boy says, his tone rigid.

They settle in, but with an audience, Kageyama is unwilling to initiate the 'binding' connection. He doesn't know if the cats would know what it is, but he has no intention of anyone finding out they are a level pair if he can help it. Instead, he opts for the first watch and takes a seat beside Hinata. The redhead tentatively reaches out and places a hand on his knee anyway. Kageyama can't bring himself to rebuff the touch; he can understand the comfort the physical connection provides. Even so, if he notices Hinata's feathers begin to glow at all, he will not hesitate to break it to keep Hinata safe.

"I'm sorry, Kageyama." Hinata says apologetically, and the taller boy is jerked out of his calculating precautions.

"What for?"

"My stupid screech this morning is probably why they're around. You were right."

"You don't know that. Maybe they were actually there two days ago and we just finally noticed them." He says dismissively, but he's confident they weren't.

"I'm pretty sure the second one _is_ a gold one." He says softly. "I didn't get a clear look."

Kageyama cocks a brow at him.

"You didn't see that one's eyes?"

"They're gold, too." He says and Kageyama scoffs.

"Great." He mutters, his unease manifesting as mild annoyance.

"Kageyama… you _will_ wake me up when you are ready to switch, right?" Hinata asks and he huffs.

"No. See you in the morning."

"You moron, I'm serious."

"So am I, idiot."

"Kageyama."

"Dumbass."

"Seriously, you jerk, wake me up in a couple hours. I'd like to see the sun again." He mutters. Kageyama's mouth tips up just a bit and he can't stop himself from laying a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. We will and we'll be home by tomorrow night, Shouyou. Go to sleep." He says wryly and there's a pause. Then...

"Kageyama, do you feel alright?" Hinata asks and Kageyama glances at him with reproval because this is most definitely _not_ going to sleep— and catches a hint of blush crossing the smaller boy's face.

 _He's embarrassed?_

"Of course, why?" He asks and the flush deepens, drawing his curiosity.

"That's the second time you've called me Shouyou. It's just odd, I guess."

Kageyama blinks. He honestly hadn't even noticed. When had he gotten comfortable enough to do that? Moreover, does he care?

"Does it bother you?" He asks instead. Hinata shrugs.

"I guess not. I was just wondering what it meant. Noya calls me that but he's my brother." He murmurs into his arm where it's curled up under his head.

"Do you want me to stop?" Kageyama asks, a little put out at the idea for reasons he can't quite grasp.

"It's ok… I don't think I mind." The answer is slow in coming but it puts Kageyama at ease. Or as at ease as he can with two cats watching from the shadows.

Hinata falls silent, but it's still a long time before his breathing evens out. He glances down at the head of orange fuzz beside him, wondering exactly where they'd gone from antagonistic little kids to comfortable teammates to where they are now.

He knows it started when Hinata had sought him out with a myriad of foreign words, wanting him to teach him Volley. He knows the rise of his team was an indirect result of Hinata's joining their unit and he knew that had altered Kageyama's not quite five-hundred-year-old view of him from a nuisance to something that could, at the very least, be used as a tool to win games.

The kid had had a way of bringing them all to their feet, and when the redhead was playing, they all consistently performed at their best. Kageyama had reluctantly admitted that while he wasn't sure exactly what the other boy brought to the table since he wasn't the best at any position back then by any means, he was still somehow a critical component of the team. They'd gotten along in a decent working relationship because Kageyama had needed him to win.

Then, when they were not quite six hundred, Kageyama's mother had died in childbirth, taking his infant sibling with. The woman had been the greatest source of happiness he'd known since his father had always been aloof. Kageyama hadn't been able to deal with her suddenly not being there.

He'd withdrawn from his teammates, his father, everyone. He'd initially mourned, but it didn't take long for his pain to feed anger. Everyone on the team irritated him and he was getting into fights with them all. Their performance suffered, and he got angrier and more vocal. At one point, Tanaka had thrown up his hands and left the field mid game grumbling loudly about arrogant asshole princes. The others had all stopped to stare after him, leaving just Kageyama trying to defend their side.

It was a moment that had crystallized into his memory forever and it forced him to understand that he couldn't do this alone, both the game and his future position as heir. The team's reaction had been terrifying on several levels and he'd abruptly wanted to fix it. But he'd totally thrown them out of sync, and with no idea how to make it right, he'd simply regressed into himself.

He'd have assumed Daichi would have been the one who'd try to talk to him, or maybe Asahi, but he hadn't been prepared for Hinata tracking him down to one of the furthest observation branches in their rookery. He'd been with them for almost a century by that point and he'd grown sufficient in their language, but he still had accents and struggled sometimes with correct grammar. And he was ridiculously blunt.

"Why are you mad Kageyama?" He'd asked straight out with his strange lisp, his regular exuberance absent.

The offputting swing in personality unnerved Kageyama all the more, and he had barked back to leave him alone. The redhead had pressed him. And pressed and pressed and pressed. Kageyama had been on the verge of beating the crap out of him when Hinata had come right out and asked if it had to do with his mother. Kageyama had been at such a loss that he had no idea how to react. Which meant he reacted badly.

"What would you know about it? Nothing! Leave me alone!" He'd screeched at Hinata, but the other boy had frowned, his head tilting to the side in puzzlement.

"I know about it." He'd said, using Kageyama's words as a base to form what he'd wanted to say.

"No you don't! My mom's dead!"

Hinata's frown had only deepened.

"Mine, too." He'd said and Kageyama had been left mentally grasping at nothing. It had taken him several moments to remember that Shouyou wasn't Noya's biological brother.

"Your real mom." He'd said, still off-balance.

Hinata had come up beside him and sat down, his normally bright gaze heavy as he looked out across the trees from the observation point.

"She died. Momma Yu found me and brought me here."

Kageyama had looked at him as if he'd never seen him before, this revelation setting him on his heels.

"I had a sister, too… I think. I don't remember her much, though. I don't know about her life either."

Kageyama had stumbled through his words, repeating them to himself to decipher what the redhead meant until it clicked: Hinata also had a sister that he didn't know what happened to. Kageyama had studied the wistful expression he wore, noting how odd and off it felt on Hinata even back then.

"Do you miss her?" He'd asked after a long time and Hinata had nodded.

"Yes. Some days are bad. But I'm okay." He'd said, and Kageyama had frowned.

"You sound like you don't care that she died."

Hinata had turned a fierce glare on him and he'd actually recoiled slightly at the expression he'd never seen on the smaller boy before that point. He had spat something Kageyama didn't understand at him with a rare leaded tone before looking back out across the trees. He'd taken a deep breath and muttered something else before speaking their language again.

"Is still painful." He'd murmured, his eyes dropping. "It's hard to say… It gets, um… easier. Slowly." He'd spoken carefully, trying to find the right words, his frustration coming through his voice.

"But it still hurts. But I am okay." He'd said that twice and it had struck Kageyama as odd.

"Why are you okay?"

Hinata had glanced at him, searching his face briefly for what Kageyama assumed was mockery. He'd been quiet a long moment, his eyes sliding to the side and Kageyama had waited patiently while he put together a reply.

"Not alone. I have Momma Yu and Noya. I have you and Tanaka and Asahi and Daichi... and you have us. So _you_ are not alone." He'd finished as if it were the simplest thing in the world. And for Kageyama's six hundred year old mind, it kind of was.

Hinata had confirmed that Kageyama losing his mom would definitely be hard, but he'd pointed out that he didn't have to suffer alone. Kageyama had never thanked Hinata for his words that day, but he doubted Hinata needed to hear it. The redhead had come for his sake, to make sure he was okay, and to let him know that he _understood_.

Kageyama could pinpoint that moment now as a major turning point in their relationship. His issues with the team had disappeared almost overnight when Hinata had come in the next day and acted like nothing ever happened and the others had followed his lead. He'd had good days and bad days and someone was always there to share them with, though Hinata had quickly become a constant.

The redhead made an effort to always include him, had even taken to inviting him over when Momma Yu was doing dinner so he could experience the affection of a mom once in awhile. It had grown from there to include their whole unit and most recently Suga as well. Kageyama would never admit it, but those chaotic nights surrounded by the Yu family and Hinata and the others were some of the best memories he'd had since. They'd spent increasing amounts of time together and before this mission-gone-awry, Hinata had probably been splitting his time about fifty-fifty between Noya and himself.

And yet, Kageyama doubts that he'd have ever realized Hinata were his leveler if they hadn't gotten into this mess. But given their losses, he's not sure it was worth it; only time will tell if the binding connection can fix Hinata's wings. As he glances down at his companion— his leveler— he muses at how bright the moon is tonight. He can almost see Hinata's outline clearly, the lacking wings still jarring in their absence, and a slight frown creases his face.

Kageyama is certain that he will never get used to seeing Hinata without them.


	13. Day Seven 1-3

A/N: So, I am really not very good at responding to reviews, but they totally make my day. Thank you to everyone who has made it this far, your interest gives me confidence, and to you guys that keep giving me feedback, you are fantastic. Shouyou's chapters always seem more emotional, and this one felt like the most painful yet... so let me know if I succeeded in taking you for a feels trip :)

 **Level Pair; Day Seven 1/3**

True love means you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be. ~Nicholas Sparks

 **Shouyou** follows Kageyama through the underbrush, his attention locked on the taller crow. Kageyama's definitely dragging as the sun hits its high point in the sky. His pace hasn't eased in the slightest over yesterday's but he's tripped twice and has barely spoken. He looks nearly as fatigued as that time after that Gamut Run exercise they'd done right before the Grand King started giving them these scouting missions. They'd barely slept for seven days straight and had all been virtual walking corpses by the time they were done.

 _That jerk didn't wake me till the last couple hours before sunrise,_ Shouyou mentally grumbles. He can definitely see how his focus would be slipping. He also doubts that Kageyama realizes only one of the cats was still around again when they left. He'd made no mention of it and Shouyou almost wonders if he's forgotten about them. The black one is still following them, but it's been a little while since Shouyou last caught a glimpse of it so maybe it's gone, too.

But even if Kageyama is damn near spent, Shouyou can tell the other boy is growing antsy. The black head of hair that bobs ahead of him is basically in a full on charge without so much as a single deviation in direction, so they must be getting close. And Shouyou's gut is slowly twisting with tension with every step closer to the rookery. When they'd first started this hike back home, he'd have given just about anything to see them all again.

He'd wanted to hear Daichi rebuke them for being distracted on their scouting run. He'd longed to see the outrage on Tanaka's face and his homicidal grimaces as he planned the white winged bastard's annihilation. He'd wanted to feel the comfortable and familiar presence of Noya as he helped with preparations for said assassination. He'd wished for Asahi's rare burst of motivation and drive that could only be brought out by the distress of someone else in their unit. And he'd have welcomed Suga's calm and steady guidance that complimented Daichi's leadership so well.

But now that it's almost upon them… he's not so sure. Shouyou tries not to think how this reunion will go down. He doesn't want to see the horror and pity on the others' faces. He doesn't want to have them cater to him as if he were dying. He doesn't want to see the pain in their faces as they realize he will never be able to fly with them again, never truly be 'part' of their unit again. The thoughts make him cringe and he subconsciously crowds closer to Kageyama.

Kageyama might feel guilty and Shouyou may have seen a moment or two where it bleeds through, but he hasn't looked at him with sorrow or torment. He hasn't treated him like an invalid, and he has only been looking forward and expecting him to do the same. He doesn't act like Shouyou is _broken_ ; it is simply something new that they have to figure out. Disposition wise, Kageyama hasn't been much different from normal. In truth, Kageyama's reaction has made it more bearable and there are moments where he can almost forget he's grounded. He can't help but feel that if he stays with Kageyama, other people will follow the Grand King's son's lead. If people treat him normal, even if flightless, he thinks that maybe… maybe he can do this. Maybe he can still be a crow even though he doesn't have wings.

Still, Shouyou can't help the way his thoughts drop cynically. They still have to get this by the Grand King before anything else can get off the ground. Shouyou's seen how Tooru handles someone who becomes too injured to fly. They're set up with a permanent dwelling on the ground, more or less banished from the rookery itself. They don't usually last very long down there, though- a few years at best, and it is a rare sight to see a grounded avian in the trees of the rookery even on a short visit.

The thought of being separated from everyone he cares about… being separated from Kageyama... makes his chest tighten. He will be able to figure out how to survive without wings, as hard as that will be. Life will never be the same and he doubts there will ever be a day where he won't miss them, but he can survive this. Others have gone through this before, he should be able to, as well. He can deal with being banned from the rookery, too, he thinks. It would just be living on the ground instead of in the trees, which will probably make more sense anyway. But to be cut off from his unit is something he can't even fathom. He's been surrounded by them for the last seven centuries; he doesn't really _have_ much for memories from before all of them. His real mother... even she's more a happy impression of warmth and love than she is a memory, and Momma Yu is really the only face that rises in his head when he thinks 'mom'. He's spent ninety-eight percent of his time around his unit since he was less than five-hundred years old. He knows them all like the back of his own hand. To suddenly be without them forever? The feeling building in his lungs is nothing but desolate loneliness when he thinks about that.

Kageyama is adamant, though, and Shouyou can't help but think that if there is someone who could get his father to bend the rules, it's him.

Hinata catches movement in the sky through a break in the trees and pauses. Black wings— a sentry. Sucking in a breath, he looks to Kageyama.

But Kageyama hasn't seen it; he continues forward with even steps.

And for a long moment, Shouyou is utterly torn. He would like nothing more than to turn and head back the other way, river and cats and all. He wants to prolong this moment, make it stretch as far as he can, because right now, he still has the pieces of the life he'd had only last week. He still has Kageyama. He still has his unit and his friends, his sense of belonging. He still has Momma Yu and his family. He hasn't lost any of those things yet. The moment he sets foot back in the rookery, the chance to try and make all those pieces fit together once more— even if they don't ever fit quite right and are always a little fractured— that chance will likely be gone forever, his fate resting in the hands of another.

He is _terrified_ of the coming encounter and the faces he will see. He's even more frightened of the final conclusion of what will become of him and the very real possibility of losing _everything_. But he knows Kageyama has had this one goal in mind with resolute ferocity since they'd left the fallen log they'd first sheltered under by the river what seems like ages ago. Kageyama is the heir to lead their murder of three thousand crows and other sheltering avians. No matter how selfish Shouyou wants to be and keep him for himself, Kageyama needs to go home.

Besides… it's the safest place that Kageyama could possibly be.

Shouyou squeezes his eyes shut, hating his own indecision. A tear escapes down his cheek and the redhead takes a deep breath… and screeches.

For as tired as he is, Kageyama nearly jumps out of his skin. He's back beside him before his cry ends, but Shouyou won't look at Kageyama. He's focused on the blurring image of wings in the sky, and lets loose another shriek. Kageyama is trying to talk to him, to get his attention, but Shouyou won't let this sentry escape.

He can tell he's lost control of his emotions; the stupid shape in the sky keeps falling out of focus as his eyes keep watering over. But the next time he sees it clearly, it's changed directions. His voice carried this time, he succeeded. Shouyou emits one more piercing trill before he's out of breath and collapses to the ground, Kageyama following his movement like a shadow.

"Shouyou, what's the matter? Are you alright?" Kageyama is talking to him, trying to get him to talk back. Shouyou can only look back with leaking eyes and a small smile.

"You're going to make it back home, Kageyama."

The other boy stares at him uncomprehendingly.

"...What? What do you mean? Of course, we-" Kageyama breaks off as he hears the wing beats and turns to see the closing sentry. The tension eases in his frame and he turns back and grabs Shouyou's shoulders, a tired grin tugging at his mouth.

" _We're_ going to make it back home." He corrects.

It's all Shouyou can do to keep his smile on his face. If they are going back home, why is his gut twisting with so much dread?


	14. Day Seven 2-3

**Level Pair; Day Seven 2/3**

There's a loneliness that only exists in one's mind. The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly. ~F Scott Fitzgerald

 **Kageyama** isn't sure what to think.

Hinata has pretty much gone into autopilot. The redhead had nearly scared him out of his wits and when he'd turned around, the other boy had tears just streaming down his face.

Kageyama had no idea what was going on at first and had been at a complete loss. He'd all but begged him to tell him what was wrong, but Hinata had ignored him and screeched again and again, a sound filled with as much determination as there was devastation. Kageyama had honestly wondered if he'd lost it. He'd thought he might've be in pain, but there'd been no serious tension in his body. Was he scared or angry? Why the tears?

The redhead's legs had gone out and Kageyama again thought he was hurt but when Shouyou had looked at him with that uneven smile and tears still leaking down his face, it had made him feel like the world was coming to an end. When he'd heard the wingbeats and saw the sentry, he'd finally understood what the screeches were for. But the peculiar smile and tears had continued, creating a desolate dystopian surge in Kageyama's gut.

And then the tortured look was gone as the sentry crow landed, Hinata's face smoothed out into neutral apathy. It's a look that Kageyama's never seen and he has no idea what to do with it. There's a small part of him that's annoyed… they've effectively just been rescued, shouldn't they be overjoyed? But it is totally overshadowed by his concern. Shouyou has never closed himself off like this before, and it makes Kageyama that much more worried about what's going through his head.

More sentries start showing up and pretty soon they have enough to carry both himself and Hinata back to the rookery. He protests as two of them move to pick _him_ up, but he must really look like hell, because they insist. Two sentries grab each of them and Kageyama gets one glimpse of Shouyou's pale face before it's out of sight behind him. That blank, lost look is still firmly in place and Kageyama wants to struggle and make the sentries put them down until he can sort out what it's _for_.

It's maybe a ten-minute flight back to the main landing bar, but it seems forever. It's way too long and is allowing Kageyama's mind to frazzle because he can't see Hinata. As they get closer, other crows materialize out of nowhere and they have an escort at close to twenty by the time they land, and Kageyama couldn't care less because he needs to know how the redhead is doing.

He can hear the cry going out around them, spreading across the entire murder like wildfire, that he and Hinata are alive and have returned. He knows it will be a matter of minutes before his father hears the news. The end of this little ride can't come fast enough, and when their feet touch down, he's immediately twisting around with a seeking gaze. A blanket is placed around his shoulders, but he pulls it off immediately and beelines for the patch of orange hair that would stand out anywhere in their rookery.

His own wings are spread half aggressively as he shoves his way toward him, but he doesn't care, because the smaller boy is silent, his eyes trained on the ground. He barely looks up as Kageyama drops the blanket across him and pulls him to his side with an arm around his shoulders. There is no physical protection it could possible provide, but if there is any potential as a mental barrier to the pandemonium around them, Kageyama will take it.

A sentry takes his arm and he almost hisses at the man before he recognizes his father's game master. He blinks a moment before nodding in acknowledgement and allows the large crow to guide them in a direction that Kageyama immediately recognizes. They are headed to the infirmary.

Shouyou walks beside him silently, no resistance in his movement. There's no excitement or joy either. There's no loud excitement, no blunt insults, no stupid questions to scoff at, no idle chatter, no exuberant smile, no brilliance— everything that made the redhead who he is, is missing. There's _nothing_ and it leaves Kageyama feeling somehow blind and agitated. It's as if Hinata has left and something else, dark and forsakenly grim wears his face instead. It makes Kageyama's skin crawl and his spine twinge like when Tanaka would drag his nails across a slate board… only a thousand times worse.

There is a hush among the sentry ranks, a sort of awed horror, and Kageyama notices it. For the first time, he becomes aware of the whispers around them, and finally gets an impression on Shouyou's mental shutdown.

 _Grounded. Flightless. Maimed._

He wants to tell them all to be quiet, that they both have functional hearing like everyone else. He wants to screech at them that Hinata lost his wings, not his ears, so please do shut the hell up. The infirmary can't come up fast enough; at least inside, they will have a little more peace. But they don't make it to the doorway before a shrill female cry echoes across the sentries.

"Shouyou!"

It jars Hinata beside him, and for the first time, the vacant look wavers.

"Shouyou!" The screech comes again. Hinata straightens just a bit.

"Mom…" He whispers, as if he can't believe it. And as Kageyama sees the crows around them start to shift, Hinata leaps toward the movement.

"Mom!" His voice breaches around them, it's scratchy lilt still present.

Kageyama tenses. Of all the people Hinata's close to, his adoptive mother isn't who he'd have pegged to be the first one to see him… although he's not that surprised. Momma Yu is a mother through and through, she has probably been waiting as anxiously as anyone for news of Hinata and himself. Still, he has no idea how Momma Yu will react when she sees Hinata sans his wings and it puts him slightly on edge. He has no time to consider it beyond tensing slightly.

She bursts through the crowd, her dark hair wild and her eyes frantic.

But if Kageyama was worried about her reception of Hinata, he needn't have. Her eyes hit her redheaded son and take him in, lack of wings and all, and she hesitates only a moment before gathering him into her arms, her own composure long broken. Hinata clings to her for long moments and Kageyama feels an acute tightness coil in his chest. Momma Yu's tearful eyes land on him and in a flash, she's captured his arm as well and pulled him right in with them.

"Shouyou, Kageyama. Boys… you are _both_ back." She whimpers and Kageyama feels struck nearly stupid. This woman… considered him as she would Hinata? As she would another son? It's a bizarre thought that's completely out of the blue that he can't properly rationalize at the moment.

But the game master is beckoning to him and he has no chance to dissect it any further at the moment, and he squeezes Momma Yu's arm and gestures toward the infirmary. She nods and they head inside. Hinata still has a death grip on his mom and despite Kageyama's reluctance, he lets go of him and backs off to give them a more personal moment. He turns to speak to the game master instead, but is stopped by a tug on his shirt.

He glances back to find Hinata watching him with wide eyes.

"Are you leaving?"

The question is uttered with the slightest waver and Kageyama hates it. Turning back to the game master, he bows in apology before placing an arm around Hinata and guiding him to the bed that is waiting for him with his mother. There are a couple nurses prepared and they get Hinata set up in his own room, his mother alongside him. She has a constant hand on the redhead and Kageyama is grateful for it, knowing it will probably help calm Shouyou. Momma Yu is still weepy, but her face holds nothing but relief.

The game master pokes his head inside.

"Kageyama, your father has been reached. He will want to see you immediately."

Kageyama doesn't want to leave Hinata who's watching him with a nervous tension in his face.

"Thank you." Is all he says and the game master retreats back outside.

He doesn't want to go… but his father isn't a patient man. He looks over at Momma Yu.

"Will you stay?"

She reaches out and squeezes his arm in reassurance and nods. He won't be able to avoid the coming reunion, so it's best just to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Thankyou." He murmurs and looks to Hinata and almost recoils at his anxious gaze. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He promises and gets up to leave. He pretends he doesn't see the way Hinata reaches out toward him as he steps through the door.

The game master leads him to another room where a nurse is waiting to evaluate him. He sits on the bed, staring at the wall as she catalogues his injuries, wondering how long before he can get back to the redhead. The fear in his face when he'd left him is a change from the barren listlessness of only a short while before, but he's not sure if it should be a welcome one. He absently watches the nurse inspect his wings and can't help but note that she's not as gentle as the redhead had been.

He's careful not to flinch when she runs over the sprain in his wing, but can't be sure that she missed it. Perhaps it is a side effect of being the heir apparent, but he has zero desire to have a significant injury be public knowledge, whether officially or otherwise. She asks questions and he dutifully answers in as few words as possible before she hands him a glass of water. He stares at it, wondering why he reflexively took it from her in the first place.

"Tobio."

Kageyama hates his name, hates when he hears his father say it. He blinks and looks over to the doorway, his gaze going bland. His father steps through the door, his dark eyes fairly _dancing_ , his face set in an easy smile.

"You had us all worried." The Grand King says and Kageyama almost scoffs.

"Yes, you almost lost your heir." He murmurs, not quite able to keep the bite out of his voice.

There was a time where they got along, but it has been many centuries since they've been anything even related to close. They barely talk at all and most of that is restricted to a rigid working relationship. When his mother died, he'd truly been left alone in his home. Kageyama thanks the skies for Hinata and the others.

"Yes, I suppose that is a bonus, but you _are_ my son, Tobio. I am genuinely glad that you returned. And in one piece, too."

The glass in Kageyama's hand shatters, making the nurse jump. He can't explain the reaction and he calls on all of his control not to get up swinging.

"Hinata didn't so I'd appreciate if you left cracks like that at the door." He growls, his voice carrying impressively icy candor. Tooru's head tilts, his smile never wavering.

"A week on your own and you come back with more fire than the last six hundred years of training has yielded. Perhaps there's some good that came of this."

Kageyama's eyes flash and he's on his feet, the demands of hierarchical respect be damned.

"What good is having one of my unit grounded?" He grates out through a tight jaw. Tooru places a hand on his shoulder and nods at the nurse who bows and leaves.

"You will grow out of this experience and learn from it, Tobio. That is the silver lining." He says amiably.

Kageyama shoves his hand off, hating the familiarity and the arrogant mentoring tone. This isn't some small trifle. Hinata is a person, a human being. His life and suffering is not insignificant. He glares at the Grand King, fighting to keep his control. There isn't a person in their rookery who is probably more estranged from himself than the man before him.

"Where is the rest of my unit?" He asks evenly, determinedly changing the subject.

"They are out looking for you, of course. Along with a fair number of other units. Although… Yu and Azumane should be getting back anytime. Sawamura, Ryunosuke, and the thrush were out on one of the remote scouting teams so they probably don't know yet." Tooru says genially and Kageyama can't help but feel relief if only for the fact that they are all still alive given what he and Hinata have been through. "They were all pretty concerned. We had to knock out Yu the second night with a sedative to get him to sleep."

 _I bet_ , Kageyama mentally grouches. That idiot is more level than Tanaka, but Hinata _is_ Noya's brother for all practical purposes.

"I'm not so different you know. Everything I do is for your sake and nothing is outside of reason." He says and when Kageyama looks back up at him, there's an odd crease at the corners of his eyes, a mild sadness within. It completely takes Kageyama off guard.

"Tobio…" There is a curiously heavy lilt in his voice and Tooru places a light hand on his shoulder again, unusually gentle in the action. "Your hair and eyes are so like your mother's. I really _was_ relieved when I heard you'd made it back."

There's the slightest squeeze and Kageyama is left reeling at the rather _fatherly_ action and his, for once, seemingly transparent words. Tooru releases him and heads for the door and Kageyama wonders if he just imagines the slight twist in his face, the tightness of emotion around his eyes.

"Have the nurse finish evaluating and I'll have the game master bring you something to eat. Get some sleep, Tobio. We will debrief in the morning."


	15. Day Seven 3-3

A/N: So... this chapter's a little shorter, but it kind of gives me a warm happy feeling even though it's still tripping on some light feels, so I hope you all enjoy it.

 **Level Pair; Day Seven 3/3**

I want to take care of people. The maximum joy that I have is when I can create something that makes someone's life lighter, brighter, or better. ~Will Smith

 **Shouyou** hears Noya before he sees him.

The nurses finished their evaluation in solemn silence maybe ten minutes earlier, so he's alone with his mom now, but the redhead tenses slightly. Their mother had been a hurdle but not one he'd been worried about. Noya on the other hand…

 _Well, I suppose it had to be the toughest reunion first._

And Kageyama isn't here. Shouyou has caught himself turning to speak to the black-haired crow twice already only to remember that he'd left to speak with his father. He really wishes he was here right now; he misses the comfortable familiarity of his abrasive demeanor. He has almost no time to dwell on it, though, before Noya is crashing through the doorway, running into the frame and nearly stumbling in his haste.

"Shouyou!"

He freezes at the sight of him and Shouyou hunches slightly, knowing Noya is aghast at his empty shoulders.

"Noya, really, you weren't supposed to—" Asahi rounds the corner behind him and his words cut off.

 _Ah. Double whammy._

Shouyou wants to sink through the floor. He knew these two were rarely apart, but he'd still somehow imagined he wouldn't meet them together. His hand unconsciously tightens around Momma Yu's and he pulls a half sheepish smile on his face to meet their wide-eyed stares.

"Hey guys. It's been a while." He says softly.

Noya is the first to break his stupor and he stumbles forward and reaches out to him tentatively with shaking hands.

 _This is what he hadn't wanted to see,_ he thinks. He didn't want to see the fear and sorrow cross his friends' faces, the horror and dread slacking their features and blowing their pupils wide. He didn't want to hear the choppy intake Noya pulls in or the staggering silence from Asahi. He didn't want to see their worlds as shaken as his own. But he will deal. He's already lost his wings, so he's been through worse.

Still, Shouyou is surprised at how calm he is. He'd expected this to be brutal but just by looking at these two, he can tell that he's not the one suffering at the moment. He's been living this hell for the last week so he's used to it and built up a tolerance for the emotional pain; they on the other hand have been blindsided. Noya's hands brush his shoulders and pull back as if he's terrified the grounded crow might shatter and Shouyou half-sighs. He's already been shattered and he is through with mourning his loss. He reaches out and pulls the other crow into an embrace.

"It's okay Noya, I can't really break much more." He says with a wry smile and he's surprised that it doesn't hurt to say it. The part that hurts is how Noya is rigid in his grasp and his determination wavers just a moment. But then Noya's hands uncertainly return the hug before he sucks in a breath and crushes him.

"Skies, Shouyou." He says, his voice straining with emotion. "What the hell happened?"

The redhead scoffs.

"I got my ass handed to me, what's it look like." He murmurs and Momma Yu tsks softly in disapproval.

"That's not funny, you idiot." Noya growls but it fails on every level as a rebuke.

"Eh, it's true. Still likely doing better than Kageyama at the moment, though. He's probably going through an interrogation with the Grand King right about now."

Seeing their pain, it's suddenly easy to be light and witty like normal. That was always his strength— to be able to stay up in the greatest moments of down. So that is what he does. He draws both Noya and Asahi in and welcomes them to stay. He chatters away about his and Kageyama's misadventure and insists they tell him everything that's been going on while they were gone. It's harder than normal, but he's able to get them talking.

Kageyama had said that once— _you have the ridiculous talent of getting people to talk_. It had happened after a six hundred year old Kageyama had somehow managed to tick his dad off and he'd gotten himself a bout in the race pits alone. The pits were a hell of a punishment in and of themselves, but to have to face it alone was a new level of merciless intensity.

A twisting four mile air track hacked out of the largest swath of blackberry brambles for leagues around, it was a hazard all on its own. Nevermind the sharp banks and random trees that popped up in the middle, the vines themselves were murderous and encroaching, and abundantly armed with up to inch long thorns pretty much all along the lengths of the canes. If the terrain itself wasn't enough with vines on three sides and trees to dodge, the pits were run once a day with all that day's screw-ups— be it entire units or errant individuals— tossed in with one goal in mind: catch the person in front of you and secure a feather.

The time limit was usually fifteen minutes but could last up to a half hour if the Grand King was in one of his moods— but you were allowed to leave the track early if you collected five feathers. The more feathers you lost, the harder it was to fly, and flying was critical in avoiding trees and vicious blackberry thorns (and that didn't even cover how much harder training was until they'd grown back in the following week). And the ones who made sure it ran were the Grand King's sadistic 'war dog' unit who treated it like a contest to see who could grab the most feathers and never left the track at five.

The first time Shouyou'd been sent to it was after a day of bickering with Kageyama around their five-hundredth year. Neither had flown the race pits before and in the end, both had constellations of cuts over their arms and legs and they'd both lost probably half their feathers.

Five-hundred year old kids were no match for adults that were three times their age and Shouyou was pretty sure the only reason Kageyama hadn't gone homicidal on him was shellshock... and perhaps consolation that Shouyou had lost more feathers than he. At ten minutes instead of the normal fifteen, it had even been a short day; Shouyou still had a silvery scar under one eye where he'd caught a grasping vine to the face near the end of the race. It was the Grand King's most effective tool to get them to mind.

The day Kageyama had been tossed in alone had been like a replay of that first time, and he'd come back covered in cuts, missing half his feathers, and holding back furious tears. Shouyou remembered finding him standing outside their door in the dark and he'd gone to see what was wrong only to be punched in the face.

Shouyou had been so surprised that he'd started hitting back, not realizing where the black haired boy had just come from. No one in their unit had known he'd been sent to the race pit let alone why. When his fists had come away bloody in the light that filtered out of the Yu residence, Shouyou'd stumbled back and gotten his first solid look at Kageyama. He'd paused for only a moment before dragging the battered young crow around to the landing branch behind the house where he'd be out of sight in case Momma Yu came outside. Shouyou had tried a couple times to get him to talk but Kageyama had just sat silent.

So Shouyou hit him. It got the response he was after and soon they were kicking the crap out of each other under moonlight.

And between swings, it came out.

Kageyama had been arguing with his dad over something trivial when he'd made a critical miscalculation. He'd said something along the lines of 'Mother wouldn't have done it that way'. Something so simple, an offhand remark...and he'd wound up in the race pits for it.

The fight had gone out of the other boy and they'd both slumped to the ground breathing hard. It was the first time it had happened, but it would become habit in the following centuries whenever Kageyama was close to losing his mind and had to get something out of his system. Momma Yu would probably be horrified if she knew how often her back landing platform had gotten used as a boxing ring… or where half those bruises actually came from.

"You are right Hinata. That bastard is a monster. I don't think he cares about anyone." Kageyama had said that night. Shouyou had shaken his head.

"I think you're probably wrong. I think he probably loved your mom… and that you were right. And I think he knew that, too, but couldn't stand it." He'd said. Kageyama had blinked at him, before scoffing and staring up at the stars overhead.

"You have the ridiculous talent of getting people to talk. You'd be the perfect interrogator." He'd muttered and Shouyou had laughed back then...but Kageyama was right.

So he talks to Momma Yu and Noya and Asahi until one by one they drop out of the waking world. It doesn't take that long since he is sure they are all exhausted, the first to go being Noya, his head resting on the foot of Shouyou's bed. One of Noya's hands stays on his shin, the comfort of touch a reassurance that Shouyou is there even while he sleeps. Asahi ends up in the corner and Momma Yu finally drops off still clinging to his hand.

The lights have been dimmed in his room for close to an hour when Kageyama finally staggers back in. Shouyou is half asleep himself, but clumsily reaches out toward the movement with the hand not held captive by his mother. Even though he's comfortable and fuzzy with the edges of sleep, he still wishes he could curl up against the other boy. He marvels at how quickly he got used to it and how he misses it now. He knows he feels safe and content when he's wrapped in the taller boy's embrace, his large black wings a familiar protective barrier against the outside world. The fact that they are missing is probably the only reason he's still awake when he finally returns.

Kageyama takes his grasping limb and sits down beside him with a heavy sigh. It makes Shouyou wonder what the Grand King put him through and he squeezes Kageyama's fingers. He can just see the taller boy's outline in the low light.

"You okay?" He asks softly.

Kageyama just nods and lays his head next to Shouyou's shoulder, his grip only tightening around Shouyou's fingers.


	16. Day Eight 1-2

**Leve Pair; Day Eight 1/2**

I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy one, I will indulge the other. ~Mary Shelly, Frankenstein

 **Someone is** shaking his shoulder and in his sleep addled mind, the first thing he thinks of is white wings. Kageyama's eyes snap open, his wings splaying threateningly, and one arm swinging. The large form beside him stumbles back as he comes to his feet and something latches onto his other hand.

"Kageyama!"

He turns on the new threat with a vengeance— and freezes as he comes face to face with Hinata. The boy's eyes are set with determination, but also deep sadness, and Kageyama stares at him for a long moment.

"Hey." Hinata says softly. "It's okay. You're home. Remember?"

Kageyama's heart is still ricocheting off his sternum, but he focuses hard on those almond eyes, a bridge back to the world around him. After a moment, he becomes aware of the other faces in the room. Asahi is watching him warily from by the door, a nurse over his shoulder. Noya is blinking up at him with puffy red eyes, still foggy with sleep, and Momma Yu is watching him rather tensely, her hand hanging in midreach for the redhead who's got a vice grip on his own arm.

 _They're uneasy._ He realizes. The only one that isn't is Hinata who watches him with that infinite look in his eyes.

"Sorry." He murmurs before stepping backward and pulling out of Hinata's grasp before the redhead can stop him.

He draws a deep breath and retreats through the doorway, Asahi and the nurse clearing out of his way in a hurry. He's barely able to keep it in until he's around the corner before he staggers against the wall in the hallway. His breath is coming in spurts, his heart's still pounding, and as he raises a hand to his head, he dimly notes that that is shaking, too. The rush of terror and _rage_ is still snapping through him like wildfire in a parched forest.

All it took for him to react that badly was a half formed impression of white feathers born from the wisps of waking sleep. The assailant isn't real, but the emotions surely are. He flinches violently at a light brush against his shoulder and his gaze snaps around to land on the diminutive large crow.

"Sorry, Kageyama. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that." He says, his eyes dropping to the floor.

"It's not your fault." He says automatically. Asahi nods but Kageyama can tell he doesn't agree… or at the very least, is still very unsure about what just happened.

"A nurse was sent for you…" he says, gesturing to the woman that he recognizes from a few seconds ago who materializes behind him. "Your father asked her to come get you."

Still struggling to level his breathing and slow his heart, his eyes flicker between them.

"I see. Thanks for letting me know." He says, his mouth feeling dry.

He looks to the nurse and she bows slightly before stepping around him to take him to his father. He starts after her dutifully before pausing as a thought hits him and he turns back to where the larger crow watches him carefully.

"The game master probably knows where to find food in this place if you want to get some breakfast for you and the others." He says, feeling awkward. Asahi blinks at him and offers a small smile.

Kageyama is surprised at his own words. They are something Daichi would say, not him. Daichi was generally the defacto leader of the unit; he only stepped out of that role if another person was appointed to it for a mission or something. And on the rare occasion during a Volley game where Kageyama's greatest strengths surfaced...if he made critical choices on the field, they were treated much like Daichi's unofficial orders off the field.

Remembering the others and looking out for them in their unit was something Daichi had always done, although lately it was coming more from Suga. The thrush had joined them at Daichi's _very_ determined insistence, and even though no one in the unit minded, he'd kind of become the unspoken second and largely joined at the hip to the pivotal leading crow. Kageyama somehow found that odd… as if it were kind of screwing with their unit's dynamics, changing them... but so long as they all performed to his father's standards, he didn't really care that much.

It was never what his father had wanted, but he was content to let Daichi lead, content to concede to Suga as well.

"Master Kageyama, do we need to go through an eval before I take you to your father?"

He blinks blankly down at the nurse who's paused ahead of him.

"I'll be fine." He manages, his thoughts scattering.

Kageyama's not awake enough yet to deal with Tooru and his manipulative personality, and he's sure that with his heart still setting a pace just above where it should be, he's not thinking as clear as he needs to, either. His disarrayed thoughts are a good indication of the current deficiency of his mental processing. Anytime he's had to talk to his dad, pretty much as far back as he can remember, it has always been mentally exhausting and occasionally humiliating or even dangerous if he wasn't on point and keeping up with everything the Grand King threw at him.

Kageyama's eyes narrow slightly. Though he will be on guard just as much today as any other, it will probably be rough. The nurse leads him all the way across the military grounds to his father's study, his own silence both a comfort and an overwhelming threat.

"Ah, Tobio, I hope you got some rest." Tooru says, looking up from the maps and markers on a table when they walk in. Three of his high ranking officers and his second in command stand around it with him and Tooru looks over and nods slightly with a fabricated grin to them as Kageyama steps inside. It's the Grand King's default expression he reserves for him when in front of his subordinates. Normally, it wouldn't faze him, but today, it irks the younger crow.

"Take D sentries seven through nine to the west quadrant and one, five, and six to the Karasuno-Torono confluence. Use caution and report anything strange immediately. We will regroup later this afternoon when you've returned with a report on your progress." He dismisses them and they file out, leaving Kageyama alone— always alone— with his father.

"You are looking more alive today." He says, the grin falling away and his face growing more serious.

"I am." He says reflexively.

"Good. We need to discuss what happened. You were gone for six days; it was something of a big deal." The Grand King says, and Kageyama resists the urge to roll his eyes.

 _Was it, now?_ Him being the heir apparent to the rookery leadership aside, they were _two_ crows that had gone missing out of _thousands_. But he doesn't have the energy to grouse at him.

"It was someone with white wings. He attacked us on the last stretch of the route." He says bluntly. His father frowns slightly.

"We scoured those routes and never found you." He says and Kageyama senses something, a catch in his voice that he can't quite grasp.

"We were taken off course in the altercation. We wound up more northeast by the Torono river." An eyebrow rises slightly and Kageyama gets the impression of curious skepticism. He has no idea why; he is telling the truth after all and that is something his father has always been stellar at— unearthing lies.

"That's a considerable distance off point. Were you caught all the way up in owl territory?" Tooru asks. Kageyama almost shrugs before remembering who he's talking to.

"Not sure. I didn't get a solid look at landmarks on the way down."

 _Because I wasn't looking for any._ He'd been concerned only with finding Hinata.

"Who was it that attacked you?" The Grand King drills and Kageyama's gaze drops slightly.

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look at him. He had white wings and that's about all I remember." He murmurs. Tooru's head tilts slightly as if he's unsure he heard him, his eyes pinning him with minorly annoyed puzzlement.

"How did you not get a good look at him? He was obviously around long enough to ground your redheaded scout." He asks with a note of incredulity. Kageyama hates this conversation.

"I wasn't conscious for most of it and by the time I came to, he'd already lost them." He says, bitterness creeping into his tone.

"A single enemy got the better of _two_ sentries from our best unit? How did that happen?"

Kageyama does shrug this time and shakes his head slightly.

"He came from behind and we weren't prepared for it. As far as the identity, Hinata would be the better person to ask. His eyes are sharper than mine and as you said, he _is_ the one who spent enough time with him to lose his wings. I doubt he'd forget the face of the bastard who did that." Kageyama can't bring himself to care about how sullen he sounds. He's been saying a lot of things that he normally wouldn't hardly _think_ let alone utter since he came back, and he wonders on some level if his sanity has abandoned him. His father is one of the last people he should be losing his filter with, but it keeps happening.

"Tobio, I need you to work with me. We are trying to piece together what happened so we can set it straight and correct the oversight in the future. You will lead these people one day."

Kageyama wants to roll his eyes. How often has the Grand King reminded him of this? He's been told from the outset that he'd one day rule, but with other concerns rising to the forefront right now— namely Hinata and the whole level pair thing— Kageyama doesn't think he's been more disinclined to be invested in his preplanned future in his life.

"They don't need me to lead them when they have you. You built this world anyway." He mutters before he can bite it back. And one glance at the Grand King's slight smirk tells him that he didn't speak softly enough for him to miss it. _Damn. He really needed to find where he misplaced that filter._

"Is this jealousy? Tobio, you should have said so, I would have started involving you sooner."

Kageyama knows he's probably failing miserably at keeping the scowl off his face.

"This is _your_ kingdom, not mine. You did amazing at building it from nothing— all for the sole purpose of handing it over to me to do with as I like? To make it greater? Take it to war? Destroy it? You never once asked if I even wanted it." He says cynically and he sees Tooru's eyebrows rise.

 _Crap. The words were out before he thought about it._ He's really off his game today; he should really quit while he's already behind.

He is surprised when, instead of disappointment or anger clouding his father's face, Tooru laughs. It is disconcerting and Kageyama feels like he's been outmaneuvered in a chess match.

"You're really trying to tell me you don't want it? Come on Tobio." He chortles and Kageyama feels his spine stiffen.

"You were always more your mother's son than you were mine, but you _are_ still mine and I know you better than that. You were still crawling as an infant and yet you wanted to walk, to run before you'd even stood upright. Your wings weren't even grown in yet and you wanted to play Volley. You worked until you could beat those who had years on you, always determined to catch anyone ahead of you. You accept nothing but the best performance from your unit. All your life you've always been reaching out, pushing harder, flying higher, getting stronger, faster, smarter. Everything you've done has been with precision and determination. You've always yearned for the top, to be the best, to _win_. You are much like me in that regard. You might be more withdrawn like your mother, and you get your impressive Volley skills from her, too, but that determination, that drive, is _mine_. You can't tell me that you don't want this."

Kageyama just stares at him. There may have been a time when he cared about that… where it mattered— and perhaps it still does. But for the life of him, he can't pinpoint when it began to _not_. And he realizes with definite certainty that it was long before this last week and Hinata's grounding. He doesn't need to rule. He'd be totally content to stay just where he is, so long as it's with his unit and Hinata. He'd be satisfied with all the drills and exercises and playing Volley everyday for the rest of his life so long as it was with them.

"You were your mother's pride and joy, and I will move mountains to see that you have every opportunity at your fingertips to reach that pinnacle, Tobio." His father says and Kageyama starts just a touch.

He can feel the air leave his lungs in a curious half bark of laughter and Tooru's gaze sharpens on him guardedly. He finally understands… and in that moment, all he can feel for his father is pity.

"You aren't setting the stage for a son, you are galvanizing a memory." He says and Tooru's eyes widen. And then Kageyama's head snaps to the side, his face stinging from the backhand. And still he can't be angry.

His father has _no one_ anymore. His mother left them both but Kageyama had been able to look beyond that and see other people at Hinata's insistence. No one had done that for his father. His father had no Hinata or Momma Yu or Daichi or the others.

 _I think he probably loved your mom._

Hinata's words from so long ago glare in his mind and he knows instinctively that he was right. His father loved very few things, held very little close enough that it couldn't be discarded. His mother was one of them… perhaps the only one. And when she died…

"Sorry." He says, looking back up at his father, his face still stinging. "That was out of line."

Tooru's expression is pulled into a rare glower but Kageyama knows what's behind it now.

 _Pain…_ _and a soul deep loneliness._

And that, Kageyama realized, was why they were so different. His father faced the world alone with that maddeningly complacent mask, while he had chosen to face it among… friends. They were more than teammates or comrades. Kageyama knows that if it came down to it, he'd fight for any one of them. Kageyama imagines his own father would fight for him at least, but the reason would be overshadowed by the past.

Tooru cared about his mother and her dreams and her memory enough that he won't let go of it without a fight. He'd clung desperately to her memory, and his reaction now is proof that he still does. And that somehow makes him seem that much more human to Kageyama. His father had always been a looming figure in his world, an untouchable entity, but standing toe to toe and looking up at this shell of a man, he can't understand why he'd been so intimidating.

"Did you have any other information that would be useful in our efforts?" His father asks stiffly and Kageyama tilts his head.

"There are cats in our forest. I didn't get a clear view of them either but Hinata is sure there are at least two." He says, feeling somehow guilty for reopening old wounds for the man before him.

"Cats? There's always a few cats around, I suppose. I will let the sentries know to keep an eye out." Tooru turns back to his table with the maps and unit markers and Kageyama can't stop himself from asking the question that's burned in him since they'd gotten back… since he'd found Shouyou without wings, actually.

"What do you think we should do about Hinata?"

Tooru glances toward the door with a pensive look.

"It is unfortunate that he lost his wings, but I doubt there is much we _can_ do." There is sympathy in his tone, but little else. It rubs Kageyama the wrong way.

"He will stay." Kageyama says curtly.

"I'm sorry, what?" His father says with surprise and pins him with a wry frown.

"He belongs in the murder."

"Without wings, Tobio? I can understand your position, but how do you think he will take having to be ferried around and having to watch everyone fly when he no longer can?"

"He'll stay." Kageyama reaffirms.

"He might be able to stay in the rookery bouncing from tree to tree with hatchlings but what happens when we migrate for the winter? There's no way." Tooru says as if this shouldn't be something he needs to explain. Kageyama's mouth thins into a line.

"Me and Noya and the others will carry him." He says evenly. His father stares at him for a long moment before he suffocates a laugh through his nose.

"Tobio…" The chuckle escapes and it makes Kageyama want to punch something. "Tobio, Tobio! I thought with how well you'd been handling the missions and special operations I'd handed you guys this past decade that you were finally past all the juvenile stupidity."

There is a candid smile on his face but it feels somehow predatory to Kageyama.

"Tell me Tobio, why have I been giving you all these tasks? Come on, tell me why?" He prods and Kageyama's scowl deepens. Hadn't they just argued about this?

"You want me to take over for you." He sullenly obliges and Tooru's head tilts.

"If you understand that, then you understand what that means. You will lead thousands of people one day. You _cannot_ make global choices around one individual." He stresses.

"I won't leave him behind." Kageyama states placidly, the demand barely fazing him; his father is no longer untouchable, he can't find it in him to be afraid of him anymore. "Us carrying him won't hinder anyone else."

"And you somehow think he will thank you for that? He's grounded. He will never fly again. It will be better for everyone—him included—if he can find a quiet place to settle on the ground away from all of this." The words hurt, but Kageyama can't afford to stomach that pain at the moment.

"No. I want him with us." He states firmly and Tooru frowns.

"This is starting to sound like a toxic distraction, Tobio."

There's a weight in the Grand King's voice, a sharpness that carries warning. Kageyama merely watches him with a level frown. He is going to do the one thing he has never done, and refuse to back down before his father.

"Well, since you've lost your bearings, I suppose I shall have to force my own position. I will not let our best sentry unit be hamstrung during a _migration_ due to a bird who's lost his wings."

Kageyama's eyes narrow, a warning going off in his head that puts him on guard.

"They will all agree with me and they will follow what I say over you." He challenges.

"Enough, Tobio. Distraction, indeed. If you continue to push this issue, I will exile him." Tooru says, his patience gone.

For a moment Kageyama freezes as his father's words sink in, and then his gut drops. All calm rationale leaves him.

 _Exile Shouyou?_

It's basically a death sentence. People who are exiled have a peculiar tendency to disappear. There's an instant where his lungs are paralyzed while he reels under his father's harsh declaration. He may not be this looming entity over Kageyama's head anymore but he knows it is no idle threat. His father has been playing the game of political chess far longer than he has and his vastly superior level of experience and power has never been more obvious than right now.

"That would make you look like the mad Grand King Hinata always said you were." Kageyama bites out, knowing even before the words are out that it's a tactical mistake and his emotions are clouding his thoughts and responses.

"I don't really care what the kid thought of me, and our people might find it cruel, but if it is necessary, I'm prepared to suffer that stigma and _your_ ire as well. You, on the other hand, sound like you've lost sight of the real goal. If I have to, I will place you under guard to see it done. You are our murder's future." Tooru says starting for the door.

Kageyama knows he's been boxed into a corner. His father is no longer an untouchable god… Kageyama can see he is just a man like any other now— but it was a mistake to take him lightly. His humanity suddenly makes him seem all the more dangerous. His father will have sway over every sentry unit except his own; his military power is an impossible hurdle. Dread curls in his gut.

"I wish to see Nishinoya." He says woodenly. His father flashes him a sharp glance.

"Denied. That was a mistake on my part back when I selected him to be in your unit. I initially picked him because I assumed he'd grow large like his father. I failed twice over with that one, and if I hadn't made that mistake, I doubt we'd be having a discussion over a flightless bird now." He says cuttingly.

"If it weren't for that mistake and that flightless bird, you wouldn't have a son." Kageyama spits, his patience virtually gone and any sympathy for this monster exchanged for the ugly emotion of loathing.

"A good thing, to be sure Tobio… it is the only thing redeeming them at the moment." Tooru says before leaving his study, the door slamming behind him.

Kageyama feels like he's five hundred years old again, his feet rooted to the floor after Tooru's given him another of his verbal chastisements.

His father is dealing threats… threats that will affect more people than just himself. Their unit is already never going to be the same without Hinata, but Noya as well? It's a sobering moment where Kageyama knows that none of his unit is safe if his father decides they no longer serve a purpose. Tooru is threatening _everything_ Kageyama wants to protect. His shoulders tense in white rage. He will not allow this. They are _his_ unit and he will do with them as he chooses.

And Kageyama's feet finally move. He flies toward the door with every intention of going after Tooru and making it clear he has no intention of seeing this through as the Grand King wishes. His hand closes on the handle, his face set in determination.

He _will not_ be his father, a person who has no one. He is Kageyama. And he has many people. He yanks… and his eyes go wide.

He stares at the door uncomprehendingly. The dread is back, his chest tightening… tightening like the night he'd gotten the news about his mother and infant sister. He can tell that his sanity is quickly abandoning ship and his hand clenches on the handle.

He tries again and again but knows it's no use, because the door is locked.

A/N: So... I'm apparently unable to see new reviews lately and they haven't come through my emails either. I haven't seen any from the last three chapters and it's kind of frustrating. Hopefully that bug gets fixed soon; reviews are a fantastic motivator for us insane writer people. Not sure if it would make a difference as a PM or not... oh well. Honestly, this chapter was pretty tough to get right and I'm not sure I'm happy with it yet either. I feel like I failed on several levels at keeping Oikawa even remotely in character, and I think it totally turns him into an antagonist when he's not really supposed to be a bad person. I wasn't sure how to soften the projection of his character without altering the chapter severity and still make happen what I needed to, though. I hope you enjoyed it, though; it's the longest so far and kind of a big one, plot wise. Till next time :)


	17. Day Eight 2-2

**Level Pair; Day Eight 2/2**

Only trust someone who can see these three things in you: the sorrow behind your smile, the love behind your anger, and the reason behind your silence. ~Anonymous

 **Kageyama** sits silently in the middle of his father's destroyed study in probably the only space that isn't invaded by papers or broken splinters. He doesn't know how long he's been here, but he's sure it's almost evening already. He heard sentries making noon rounds earlier and then the three o'clock one came and went, too.

His nerves are frayed and his knuckles are busted. The maps and missives on his father's desk are scattered across the floor, the delicate quills for writing crushed. There isn't an upright piece of furniture in the room, and the elegant tapestries and drapes that adorned the walls only this morning lay in disarray on the floor. The books that lined his father's shelves are no longer neatly ordered, having been tossed across the room hard enough to lose pages. He'd thoroughly lost his mind for the first half hour and his father's study reflects it.

Kageyama couldn't care less.

He desperately wants to get back to the others, to Hinata. His leveler is probably wondering what the heck happened to him by now and it's a thought that makes his stomach sick. The kid had been so shell shocked yesterday when they'd first gotten back and Kageyama is still trying to reason out the odd reaction when Hinata had initially called to the sentries in the first place. He's obviously not okay and what's more, Kageyama is irritated at having not been able to curl up around the shrimp last night again because other people were there.

He can't help but feel like everything is falling apart. Hinata is all but exiled already, and no one else in his unit is necessarily safe, Noya the predominant concern at the moment. He idly wonders what the other short crow did in the last week to put him on a short rope with the Grand King, but brushes it aside.

It doesn't matter. They are all at risk. And it took him a while, but he realized why around noon. They are all connected to him. Anyone close enough to him can be used as leverage against him. If he weren't involved in this… they would all be safe, perhaps even Hinata, too. It's a moment of bleak clarity and he draws in a deep breath. Unfortunately, they are already tied to him and his father is all too aware of his attachment to them.

As long as he's locked in here, he can do nothing to protect Hinata or the others. But his father will have to come back eventually… he just hopes the shrimp will still be around by then.

When the door finally does open, Kageyama is tense but level. He turns and his blank stare is quickly replaced by surprise.

"Daichi!" He's on his feet in a hurry and flying toward the other crow. It feels almost off in some way to not see him with the thrush at his side, but he brushes the thought aside because it's _Daichi,_ not his father or one of his other sentry larger crow looks at him with a bit of wonder, his eyes straying to Kageyama's wings.

"Kageyama."

He grips Daichi's arms with surprising force and releases a heavy breath.

"I'm glad to see you. It's been… crazy. After everything, I'm relieved you guys are all fine. It's just…" His words drop away because he feels like he's rambling.

Daichi draws him into a firm hug and for an instant, Kageyama is at a loss because _this_ is uncharacteristic of their unit leader.

"Just that you aren't completely confident in what everyone tells you until you see for yourself?" Daichi asks quietly. Kageyama feels his chest tighten.

"Yeah." He croaks. "Tanaka and Suga? They are alright?"

Daichi nods. It doesn't have the same effect as when his father says it. When Daichi tells him they are fine, he finally fully _believes_ it. His father is exceptional at telling half-truths or skirting the important details; Daichi is part of his unit and would never lie to one of them. It's a huge weight off his mind and he instantly feels lighter. Kageyama pulls back and hauls on the larger crow's arm toward the door he's just come through.

"Come on, let's go. I want to check on Hinata." He says but Daichi doesn't budge.

"They… aren't going to let you out."

Kageyama stops before straightening and turning back to the larger crow. Daichi looks uncomfortable, his gaze dropping with a frown, and unease settles in Kageyama's gut.

"My father sent you."

The larger crow nods.

"He didn't really explain much… just said I needed to talk to you about responsibility as a leader. Kageyama…" His face creases darkly as he meets Kageyama's eyes once more. "I think he intends to get rid of Hinata."

A cynical grin splits Kageyama's face and Daichi looks taken aback.

"You're quicker than I am." He says sourly. There is a long pause before Kageyama shakes his head.

"I have no intention of letting him win." He says bluntly. He intends for Hinata to stay… with the level of conviction the crow in front of him had had when he'd fought for Suga.

Daichi's eyes follow him critically as he turns and walks to the overturned table with its disarrayed maps and scattered sentry markers. Kageyama absently rights the table as well as he can; one of the legs is now broken and its stability is badly compromised.

"Daichi… how is everyone doing?"

"They are… doing alright, I guess..." He says warily and Kageyama frowns as he reaches for the maps and markers.

"Daichi." He says, a little more lead in his voice. "How is everyone doing?" He asks again before straightening to pin him with hard eyes. Daichi almost looks ready to say something but appears to think better of it.

"About as well as can be expected." He says finally, looking away. "Noya's a mess and Asahi, well he's not much better. Suga seems okay but he always hides his negative thoughts so I'm sure he's bottling everything. And Tanaka… didn't say a word. Of all of them, I think he's the one most likely to do something stupid."

Kageyama nods and starts placing the maps and markers back on the table.

"And Shouyou?" He asks, missing Daichi's sharp glance.

"Hinata is… easily the calmest of everyone." He says as if it baffles him. Kageyama doesn't know why, but that eases his nervous tension.

"Good… and you, Daichi."

The larger crow looks startled for a moment before walking over to where Kageyama is meticulously replacing all the markers on the map from where they were the split second before he'd flipped the table earlier. Again, Kageyama can't help but feel like this is an odd interaction without the quiet yet constant presence of the easygoing thrush… as if the other crow is somehow less than he normally would be. But that makes him no less intimidating. Daichi stops across from him, his looming form invasive when he leans forward.

"I want to know what the hell happened out there." He says, his voice low. Kageyama pauses.

"It was some monster with white wings. He was after me, hit me hard enough to knock me out and Hinata jumped on him. I woke and it was already too late." He says, the taste in his mouth as bitter as the memory. He absently wonders how many more times he will have to repeat this story. Daichi is silent as Kageyama slowly finishes aligning the markers in all their places, the barest wisp of a half formed impression that he can't really even identify distracting him from the very edge of his mental processing before his gaze narrows with focus.

"The Grand King intends to exile him, Daichi. Tooru views him as a… 'distraction'." Kageyama says finally, the last word uttered with venom.

"Exile? That's basically…"

"A death sentence." Kageyama finishes for him. "I'm not letting that happen. I'll go with him if I have to. If Hinata dies, then I intend to be beside him. He saved my life and it's because of me that he's under fire from Tooru now."

Daichi pins him with a searching look.

"What do you mean, it's because of you?"

"I challenged him and now Hinata's not safe. Daichi, I have to go with him."

"Don't you think you've done enough?"

There's a bit of sharp bite in the taller crow's voice and Kageyama steps back, the sting of that remark hitting much deeper than he'd have liked. He has nothing to say to that because he still feels guilty himself.

"Sorry." Daichi says and looks away. "Hinata's doing a stellar job of making sure no one blames you for this but when you came back with wings and he didn't... it's hard."

"You're right." Kageyama says hollowly. "You're right, Daichi. I came back fine and he came back broken. You don't have to tell me how messed up this is… and Shouyou is an idiot, because it is my fault. I wasn't there when he needed backup. Still…" Kageyama looks up with a sharp glance. "I'm his best chance."

"Noya would be the better option." He rebuttals, but Kageyama shakes his head.

"It has to be me."

"You should be thinking about what's best for _him_ , not how to sooth you battered pride, you self-centered egotistical brat!" He barks and Kageyama straightens just a touch.

"Daichi." He says quietly, that incomplete thought clicking into place. "Why did you push so hard to let Suga join our unit?"

Daichi blinks at him, completely taken aback.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He says, but he glances away for a moment and Kageyama doesn't miss it. The niggling feeling he didn't realize he's even had for the last few years in the back of his head turns into a hunch.

"You threatened _my_ dad to quit and banish _yourself_ if he didn't let him in. You, the one individual in our unit that my dad probably has the greatest respect for. Your own family almost disowned you for being so brash and willing to throw away everything he'd set you up with. But you never cared. You were adamant that you would just leave it all with no regrets if Suga didn't get in. Why?"

"That has nothing to do with Hinata being grounded—"

"He's your leveler, isn't he?" Kageyama cuts him off, his voice low. Daichi goes still, his dark eyes locking onto him.

"Are you on something? Those stories aren't even real." He says, but his anger is completely compromised by an off note in his voice and Kageyama is almost positive beyond doubt that he's nailed it.

"You guys are a level pair." Kageyama states, the revelation both seeming obvious and shocking at the same time. He's sure the fact that levelers being a story probably has a lot to do with it, but he wonders who no one ever put two and two together with Daichi and Suga. He'd believed like the rest of them that it wasn't real, that it was nothing more than myth told to children to get them to sleep. Looking back, he wonders how often this actually _does_ happen.

"Even if that stuff were true, there's no way we'd know." Daichi says and Kageyama has to give him credit for pulling that disinterested look onto his face when it was contorted with unease just a moment before.

"There is. If someone were to break his wing, and then left him in your care, we could find out easily." He says, his head tilting sideways.

Daichi's face darkens and he takes one step and swings. Kageyama is expecting the violent reaction and reflexively ducks like his six-hundred years of training has driven into him, and he quickly uses the larger crow's momentum to pin him up against the wall.

Daichi is one of the better well rounded people in their unit; for him to miss like that means that he is noticeably off balance mentally. Even though Kageyama's hard pressed to keep Daichi there and he's digging into the floor with his heels and shoving into the larger crow's back with a shoulder, he leans in behind him and speaks in a low voice he is sure Daichi will still hear.

"No one would be able to tell that you were a level pair until you initiated the binding connection. A simple touch or brush against each other isn't enough like the stories say. It must be nearly full body contact, usually occurring during sleep."

Daichi goes still and Kageyama lets his arm go and steps back from him. The larger crow turns to stare at him, his face a mask of shock. And there's a wary defensiveness that pulls his mouth down with tension.

"How—"

"It has to be me." Kageyama repeats evenly, cutting him off a second time.

Daichi stares at him, his mouth hanging open. This had never been part of the plan, but it somehow seems like the right choice at the moment. Kageyama holds his wide gaze pointedly before turning back to the table.

"I have an idea, but I can't be sure it will work to tie my father's hands. If it fails…" He says glancing at Daichi. The crow's mouth works a little mechanically and he fails to get anything out his first two tries.

"You are under guard right now. You need an out." He finally manages, his voice holding an odd half-strangled quality, as if it were hard to speak. His gaze is slightly half-startled still and tracks him with an uncomfortable focus. Kageyama nods once and looks to the map with its markers on the table before them.

"This is where sentries were posted today. Unless the status changes, they will still be sweeping the west forest tomorrow and the confluence area. I don't care how you do it, but we need the option." He says. Daichi blinks and glances down to the map. He takes in the sentry positions and peers back up at him.

"We will come up with something." He says, his brow furrowing. Kageyama frowns.

"Don't get yourselves caught in the crossfire. Hinata isn't the only one who isn't safe; you guys are _my_ unit so you are at risk, too. And Hinata will be upset if one of you gets nailed because of him." Kageyama blinks at his own words, but Daichi meets his gaze steadily.

"I will make sure they are safe."

Kageyama nods and looks down to the table once more. With a determined shove, he tosses it along with the maps and markers once more. Daichi heads for the door with more than one glance thrown back at him that is tainted with a strange sort of wonder. Kageyama might still be a little blown away by this newfound connection he shares with his unit leader, too, but he can't help but hope the larger crow gets that under control in the next few seconds as he shadows him. When Daichi knocks to be let back out, a thought occurs to Kageyama. He catches the crow's arm as the door opens narrowly.

"Daichi. Hinata doesn't know." He says meaningfully, mindful of any prying ears beyond the doorway. Daichi nods, traces of surprise touching the corners of his eyes, but his expression is schooled back into neutral apathy, for which Kageyama is grateful.

"Try getting some sleep. Everything will work out." He says, and then he's gone.

Kageyama lets out a deep breath, relief and anxious anticipation jockeying for emotional control.

Out of idle curiosity, Kageyama tries the door once more. Yep still locked.

A/N: Not sure I like how the last chapter and this one turned out. I don't think I have Daichi down correctly and I feel like I failed on several levels at keeping Oikawa even remotely in character. I think I've totally turned him into an antagonist when he's not really supposed to be a bad person. I wasn't sure how to soften the projection of his character without altering the severity of the last two chapters and still make happen what I needed to, though. Oh, well... hope you enjoyed them anyway :)


	18. Day Nine 1-4

**Level Pair; Day Nine 1/4**

Don't ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance, or my kindness for weakness. ~Carson Kolhoff

 **Daichi** is back this morning to collect him and Kageyama irritatedly notes how his father has turned the larger crow into a messenger. Daichi is no minion or errand boy, he is their unit leader. But the other boy doesn't seem bothered. The larger crow is brisk when he opens the door, instructing him to get up and follow him.

 _Tch._

As if he could have slept. Kageyama estimates maybe three hours. Maybe. And rough at that. His gut had twisted all night with nervous tension and he'd been awake through both the evening and sunrise rounds. He has no connection to anything happening on the outside and the informational deficit is _killing_ him. He hates it. It doesn't help that he's been kept away from Hinata for a _third_ night.

He doesn't get the chance to really talk to his unit leader and follows Daichi out the door only to be flanked by a pair of sentries.

 _Heh. Isolating me away from everyone wasn't enough?_ Still, he doesn't know why it really surprises him.

Daichi leads him through the halls and Kageyama feels a sense of calm overtake him. This is it. He will have one chance, and one chance only to fight for Hinata. He must play his hand correctly to get it, must speak succinctly and sensibly. He'd thought that his own nerves would jeopardize it but as he watches the space between the wings on Daichi's back ahead of him, he is overcome with serene control.

He'd thought his own unease would be choking him by now, but he can't feel any trace of it. His fear of making a single misstep, the way he's always felt caught in his father's shadow, the fact that his wing is still not in good shape… all things he'd thought would trip his comprehension— are gone and there is only one reality going through his head. Hinata's future is at stake; failure isn't an option.

Daichi leads the way into one of the meeting rooms his father uses. Tooru and several other sentry leaders are standing around a table littered with maps and markers much like the one Kageyama destroyed yesterday. Kageyama absently exults momentarily at the extra bodies. His father will be less likely to back down or cop out if he has an audience.

The Grand King pins him with one of his calculated, easy smiles.

"Ah, Tobio. Have you had enough time to organize your thoughts?"

Kageyama holds his father's sharp gaze with a bland one of his own.

"I did. I have a proposal, Father."

He doesn't think he's ever called his father by his title and the reaction in the room confirms the complete and jarring obscurity of it. The room is silent for a moment and he can feel the tension mount around him. Good. Those extra faces will work in his favor. Kageyama can feel Tooru's minor annoyance at how he's using those around them to exert silent pressure on him, can see how one of his brows quirks just so and the smile turns wry.

"A proposal. Fine then, let's hear it." He says amiably and Kageyama knows he's forcibly commanding the room by placating him. That's fine… that was what Kageyama was after.

"A Volley death match between my sentry unit and you and whoever you chose for your team. First team to twenty-five wins, deuce rules. If my team wins, Hinata stays." He says simply and catches Daichi glancing sidelong at him from his peripheral. But he is focused on the Grand King, determined to hold those hardening eyes without relent.

"Still on about that?" He asks lightly, but Kageyama can see how his face creases slightly with anger.

 _But don't lose your cool in front of your subordinates._

This is the precarious point in his plan. If his father refuses, he will have failed to buy that one chance. He cannot stumble now. So he holds that gaze fearlessly, banking that he will not back down in front of the others. And it pays off. His father scoffs and waves a hand.

"Suppose I consider this proposal. If you win, the scout can stay. But what happens if your team loses, Tobio? What are you offering that could buy that stake?"

Kageyama's chin lifts slightly and he has to force the urge to smirk back down into his gut. This will all be for nothing if he slips and fails to play the part. But Kageyama knows he can win now. He can secure that one chance.

"If we lose, I will not argue or protest his displacement." He says and his father's head tilts.

"You intend to spare me one of your tantrums? That is hardly enough against what you seek to gain if you win. Regardless, your team will be at a disadvantage without him."

"Then you shouldn't have any reason to worry."

The Grand King flashes an amused grin that sets his teeth on edge and for an instant, Kageyama wonders if he's made a mistake somewhere and his father will refuse.

"I'm not sure you are ready to stomach this loss, Tobio." He says much too cavalierly, but Kageyama doesn't waver. He'd spent every waking hour that he couldn't find sleep moving that damn wing through the exercises Shouyou had recommended for this purpose; he would need it to be loose if he wanted it to be worth anything in a match against his father.

"I've never had any intention of losing." He states bluntly and Tooru laughs.

"Very well then, I agree... but I will amend the terms." He says and Kageyama falters for a moment.

 _Amend the terms?_ He had never considered this… but it would be just like him to add a condition.

 _Crap._

Before he can come up with a countermeasure, the Grand King is speaking again, drawing his attention.

"Whether you win or lose, you will be placed under my direct supervision. You will be removed from your unit and they will be placed under someone else. Is this acceptable?"

Separated… from his unit. He would be cut off from everyone he cares about.

"Oi, Kageyama—"

"I agree." He cuts Daichi off, leveling his father with a fierce stare. "I agree. Name the time and field."

Tooru's grin feels insulting, but Kageyama keeps his eyes on him.

"Excellent. Let's set it for six tonight on the south center field. That should be enough time for you to track down the rest of your unit and time enough for me to put my team together. I hope you bring your best, Tobio."

"Yes sir. We will be there." Kageyama responds automatically and turns to leave, finally breaking eye contact with the Grand King while Daichi shadows him with a critical glance.

"Ah, Tobio. I would like you to stay and assist with tactical analysis here for a bit. I would like you to show us where you ran into the cats and offer some input." His father says pointedly and Kageyama stiffens just a touch.

"May I have a moment with my unit leader?"

There is a pause before the answer comes and Kageyama swears that his father sounds quite satisfied with the situation.

"Granted."

His eyes trained on the door, he heads outside, Daichi following him silently. They reach a suitable point beyond earshot and Kageyama stops.

"My father has no intention of letting me mentally prepare for this, Daichi. I will need you to go and get the others together." He says without looking at him, and he flinches slightly when Daichi grabs his arm.

"Kageyama, what were you thinking?"

Kageyama looks up at the other crow, his gaze still even and blank like it had been with his father.

"Hinata is part of _our_ unit, Daichi. We should all be there to fight for him."

Daichi shakes his head.

"Not that. Why did you agree to his terms? The amendment… none of us would have said okay to that." The corners of his eyes betray how upset he is, and his face narrows into a scowl.

"It is okay, Daichi. The Grand King's been looking for an opportunity like this for over a century. The truth is, I'm a hazard to my unit because of him. This way, you won't end up parsed out to other units or worse. You will all be safe."

"You think the danger frightens us?" He barks but Kageyama just stares back up at him.

"Not in the least. I doubt any of us fears death. But I'm not the one at risk so the danger terrifies me all the same."

That's right, he realizes. His father doesn't have to compel him physically; he can use the others to force his compliance because Kageyama is too invested in his unit to ignore the threat to them. If it were just him, he doubts he'd have batted an eye… but when his choices and actions directly affect those he cares about— he will not stand for any of the others being used as leverage against him. This way they will stay together— and away from himself and the Grand King. And if they can win this match against his father, Hinata will be able to stay as well. This is the best chance, the best outcome for his unit, even if he will no longer have a place in it.

Daichi blinks at him, his face a mask of incredulity and Kageyama releases a long breath. Stepping back around the crow, he raises a hand to Sawamura's shoulder.

"Daichi, the others still need to know about the match. You and Suga know them best. Whether it's all of it or nothing, tell them whatever you need to in order to make sure they bring everything." He says quietly before reentering the meeting room without a backward glance.


	19. Day Nine 2-4

**Level Pair; Day Nine 2/4**

I drag myself out of nightmares each morning and find there's no relief in waking. ~Suzanne Collins

 **Shouyou** idly chatters with Noya, but he's dead-tired.

Kageyama never returned last night. Instead, Daichi had told him he was being held for observation. It had left him restless all night despite the mass of people who'd surrounded him. Momma Yu had finally gone home this morning, Tanaka and Asahi had stepped out not long ago to go find some lunch, and Daichi had been summoned by the Grand King around mid morning.

He sits with his brother and Sugawara, doing his best to keep his bright smile, but mentally willing the hours to lapse faster. He wants to see Kageyama, wants to know he's okay. The black-haired boy had woken with a vicious hiss and a start yesterday when Asahi had reached for him, and Shouyou had instantly recognized the grip of a nightmare… because he'd had them, too.

Since Kageyama hadn't really displayed any reactions like that while they were away from the rookery, Shouyou _had_ wondered if he really hadn't been affected by the attack. But seeing it here where they were safe and sound… Shouyou had been left to conclude that Kageyama'd simply not allowed himself to really consider the situation while they were still in immediate danger. Once he'd let his guard down here, the backlash had finally surfaced.

A yawn escapes around his latest story and Noya fixes him with a look. Of everyone, Shouyou is probably closest to Noya, but the crow has positively _hovered_ over him since he'd gotten back. Honestly, it was worse than their mom. Shouyou finds it slightly amusing, but tiring; Noya is reacting as any sibling would. He apparently even lost his temper with the Grand King while they were gone. _Heh._ Shouyou would have paid money to see that and is sorry he missed it.

"Are you feeling alright Shou?" He asks. The redhead nods with a small smile.

"Yeah, just getting tired. And I'm hungry." He says and Noya glances to the door. He grumbles something about Asahi and Tanaka getting lost to himself before looking back at him.

"Those two should have been back with lunch by now. I'll go find them." He says and he's out the door before Shouyou can protest. He doesn't mind, though. The redhead leans back and draws in a deep breath before looking over at Suga with a dull gaze.

"Hey Suga?" He asks softly and the thrush's grey eyes fall on him benignly.

"What's up?"

The question is complimented with a friendly smile that reaches into his eyes and it makes Shouyou slouch, his pent muscles relaxing. The thrush is soft spoken and level headed and easily the most laid back of them all.

He was probably one of the last people Shouyou'd have pegged to have a competitive drive when he'd first met him a few years ago, but that desire burned just as surely in him as it did in Tanaka who was probably their loudest individual. It had been slightly unnerving when they'd first played Volley with him, honestly. He'd grown up on the edges of the rookery but still knew how to play, and he'd proved to have a rather disturbingly tenacious side to him while on the field. The fact that he always remained upbeat and chill even so— as if lost points or mistakes didn't matter— was all the more a personality contradiction. Shouyou knew it had frequently set Kageyama's teeth on edge.

But it had been through him that Kageyama had had the opportunity to take a step back from his setter position and actually learn the game more fully, his own attacks finally manifesting with as much precision as everything else he did. Not only that but with the thrush's calm personality balancing out the frequent excess of exuberance on their team, there had been significantly fewer altercations between them. He was a master at diffusing tense situations and probably the easiest to talk to or seek advice from on _anything_ really.

Perhaps it's that or maybe it's because he is a lot like Shouyou and keeps his attitude bright in the face of adversity that the redhead drops his in front of him now. He can't explain it, but he feels safe in letting it fall, revealing his turmoil to the thrush.

"Is it wrong to think that maybe I shouldn't have come back?" He asks, his voice sounding miserable even to himself.

Suga's smile falters slightly with surprise before he leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees with contemplation. When his grey eyes meet Shouyou's again, they are kind yet tinged with sadness.

"No, Hinata. Everyone questions decisions they've made and it's not an evil to wonder if they were the right ones... but if you are concerned about it, know that every one of us wants you here." He says and Shouyou can't help the wry grin that twists his mouth.

"Yeah. I can tell you guys are happy we made it back. And your concern is touching. You're making sure someone familiar is always with me... don't get me wrong— it helps, though I haven't even been able to go to the bathroom without someone trailing after me like a pup." He murmurs with a touch of amusement and Suga leans in just a little more.

"But…?" The thrush prompts. Shouyou glances away.

"I know I'm the one who's grounded, but I wish Kageyama had the same support." He says quietly before looking back up at him. "You weren't here yesterday. Asahi hasn't said anything, but Kageyama almost laid into him before he realized where he was when he woke him up. I've been surrounded by people who care about me since returning, but he's probably been pulled away on his own and cornered by the Grand King any number of times by now and that jerk knows nothing about Kageyama except how to find his weak points and coerce him."

Kageyama's father has ever been a brilliant strategist, using anything and everything at his disposal to achieve a goal. His propensity to accurately gauge a situation and craft a solution had been the largest draw to other crows and avians. He was careful and precise, with every move calculated after every outcome had been considered, something Kageyama came by honestly. During the rookery's rise to notoriety, Tooru hadn't usually entered confrontations or skirmishes he knew they might lose, and had frequently and skillfully negotiated territorial disputes. That wasn't to say that they hadn't run into tensions with other clans, but the promise that their warriors would come home at the end of the day was appealing. His systematic planning and structure combined with his uncanny ability to control interactions offered a security many found reassuring and his followers had quickly swelled in number.

His single greatest strength was his ability to analyze _people_ with terrifying results. He could determine his own sentries' capabilities and had hand placed most of them into units to maximize their strengths while still keeping them perfectly balanced with one another. He could pick out those with the very best latent talent, could coax and train it to the surface, and could adeptly construct specialized units for unique missions. He could read people and deliver motivation for any type to get the most from his minions.

His eyes also missed no _weakness_ either, and this was the true power behind his capability in dealing with an opponent. He could determine what unbalanced an adversary or what they wanted, could play that to his benefit. He could decipher the only chink in an impermeable defense and exploit it. Hell, Shouyou was pretty sure the last time they'd seen it in action, the Grand King had actually turned the opposing clan's own advantage _against_ them. It was his best weapon against curbing internal dissension as well, and the redhead had seen it used— albeit rarely— on his own sentries. More often, it was one of Tooru's favorite games to play with Kageyama anytime they butted heads; he is sure the heir apparent is facing it once again.

Shouyou frowns. Even if Tooru could analyze people to the letter, that didn't mean he understood them… that or he simply didn't care.

"I'm not an idiot and I'm aware that my being here exponentially increases the external pressure on him, and the Grand King will know and use that." He says with a touch of sharpness before finding a corner of the room to focus on.

"I know he probably seems like it's not getting to him, but he went through all this, too, Suga… he's not the same since before the attack, and I can't help but feel like he's going to do something stupid if someone isn't there to help put on the brakes." The redhead says uneasily.

Suga reaches out and grasps his shoulder. The touch is comforting, but it's not the crow's he wants to feel right now.

"I know it's not much, but he hasn't been completely alone. Daichi was supposed to see him again this morning—"

A commotion outside echoes down the hall and into the room and Suga goes silent. Shouyou recognizes both Tanaka's and Noya's voices and knows their time for this sober conversation is about up.

"I hope it's enough." The redhead says quietly before carefully reconstructing his easy facade.

But it cracks slightly when the two loud crows walk in followed by both Asahi and _Daichi_. Well so much for the unit leader being with Kageyama. Still, he can't keep from jumping at the chance for news of him.

"Did you get to see him Daichi?" He asks immediately. Daichi looks at him like he's just been caught skipping drills and Shouyou's gut sinks.

 _Something's already happened._

The larger crow glances away from him and Tanaka and Noya go silent as they feel the mood drop.

"He's… doing alright." He says and Shouyou frowns, his first real one in the last two days.

"You're lying."

Daichi watches him for a long moment before meeting Suga's pinched face beside him with a deep look.

"Can you make sure Noya's mom will come tonight? I think the rest of us are going to be held up." He says heavily and takes a seat beside them. He leans forward, supporting himself on his arms with elbows on his knees like Suga had earlier, and runs his hands over his face.

"Daichi." Shouyou says, his voice sounding horribly neutral even to himself, "What's going on?"

The large crow draws in a deep breath before meeting his gaze.

"Kageyama challenged the Grand King and secured an opportunity to fight for you to stay." He says and it seems like it should be cause for relief, but the tightness around Daichi's jaw is doing nothing but sending Shouyou's heart rate skyward.

"What did he do?" He asks woodenly. Daichi glances from one face to another before coming back to him. And then it drops to his hands.

"We have a Volley death match against the Grand King. We play at six on the south center field." He says and everyone misses Shouyou go pale. "If we win, Hinata can stay as he chooses. If we lose…" He continues before trailing away, still focused on the white knuckled grip of his hands in front of him. The breath rushes out of Shouyou's lungs.

"He can't!" The words escape him with a measure of desperation and everyone turns to stare at him. "Kageyama _can't_ play!"

A tense moment of silence pulses in his ears before Tanaka breaks it.

"Eh? He has to. He issued the challenge. Suga can relieve him now and then, but—"

"I'm _grounded_ , you moron!" Shouyou explodes at him, cheerful happy mask utterly forgotten. "Suga will be _my_ relief… permanently. There are only six of you again so he doesn't _have_ a relief for himself anymore! But it doesn't matter because he _can't_ _play_!"

"Calm down, Hinata. Talk to us." Suga says with an uncommon note of authority and a hand gripping his shoulder. He catches Shouyou's gaze with luminous focus. "Why can't he play?"

Shouyou feels his chest tighten.

"Because he's _injured_!"

Silence. Five pairs of eyes stare back at him and he can tell he's on the verge of losing what little composure he still has.

"What do you mean by injured, Hinata?" Daichi asks finally.

"His wing is sprained! He didn't leave the ground for five days after we were attacked. He _still_ can't fly very well! It's definitely not Volley game ready!"

And as the seconds tick by, he can see the dawning horror on their faces.

"He didn't say anything about it, though." Noya points out tentatively and Shouyou can't keep from rolling his eyes.

"It's _Kageyama_. I had to corner him on it before he even admitted that something was legitimately wrong."

There's another pause before Daichi lets out a leaded sigh and everyone glances at where he's still seated with his head bowed. He looks up at them, a pained expression crossing his brow.

"I don't think Kageyama is concerned for himself at all at this point." He murmurs before he looks back to his hands, frustration clouding his gaze. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you guys, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Grand King tries to throw us off with it later so I will. Our unit was facing disbandment. Rather than let us be dispersed to other units, Kageyama bought this match for Hinata along with keeping our unit together by agreeing to leave it. Win or lose, Kageyama will be under the Grand King's direct command after this match is over."

Once more, tense silence settles with suffocating pressure. The redhead can barely breath around the constriction in his chest and he doesn't even notice the others' dismay at this new information. Shouyou feels his world tilt and his eyes drop to the floor.

 _Kageyama… what are you doing?_

The redhead can't keep the angry tears from welling and they finally break.

"Stupid Kageyama… after all this time, you think you're still alone? Why are you making all these decisions on your own?" He asks rhetorically to no one.

"I think… I think he knows. He's drawing on the strength of all of us to fight for you because he knows he'll never succeed if it's just him." It's Asahi who answers in a timid voice.

"And he's the only one who could have negotiated something like that with the Grand King." Noya points out.

"But he won't even be able to compete really. He's just going to end up hurting himself worse and _then_ be stuck at his father's mercy on top of it." Shouyou's voice cracks.

"I don't think there is anything that will stop him from playing, Hinata. He will do better with your _support_ rather than your concern at this point." Suga says softly, reminding him of what they'd just spoken about moments before everyone had returned. Another tear escapes but he doesn't notice as the thrush's words sink in.

 _His support._

Kageyama had been pulling for all of them from for a while now and no one realized it. He had been supporting Shouyou and the rest of their unit in invisible silence. The implications are terrifying for Shouyou. He'd never realized how strong their ties had grown and how much the other crow was willing to sacrifice for them.

Shouyou wonders briefly if he's been blinded by his own pain and crushing reality to not have noticed. And yet… this has to have begun long before the attack, because this depth of attachment isn't born overnight. It's a harrowing moment when Shouyou realizes it's probably been there for centuries... the events of the last week are simply forcing it to the surface.

 _How had he missed this?_

His heart squeezes painfully when he considers how this must be affecting Kageyama. He is trading everything he cares about, everything he identifies with as part of their unit… to keep them safe. It's a disturbing parallel to his own situation and everything he stands to lose as well. He looks back up at Suga who watches him with an unusually critical focus.

"Okay." He manages finally with a half nod. "But I want to be there."

Daichi looks up with a frown.

"You being there might trip his focus." He says apologetically.

"He can go if he stays out of sight, Daichi." Noya says with a frown.

"Yeah, if he can keep himself quiet, it shouldn't be an issue." Tanaka agrees.

"If there is a crowd, it will be easy to mask him somewhere in it." Asahi says thoughtfully.

Daichi looks around at them, indecision etched around his eyes.

"There were enough people in that room that I'm sure most of the units on site know about it…" Daichi hedges and his hand moves to the back of his neck and he looks at Suga imploringly. The thrush merely smiles.

"Your call, Captain."

Daichi's head drops back down with a heavy sigh and Shouyou knows he's going to get his way. Despite the stress multiplying in his gut, he momentarily grins at his small victory.

A/N: This chap annoyed me; the next one is worse and has been completely uncooperative and I've put it in time-out for the moment. There are a couple chapters I'm still revising and hashing out- this one had like 3 rewrites on it and the next has probably gone through 7 (let's face it, it's still making my eye twitch and I will probably do 2 more on it tonight yet), but I will try to have them all straightened out and post ready for their designated days. Oh... and total chapter count will be more than 25. I think I'm looking at 30, all said and done. Maybe more. If I feel like it.

Eh, have an awesome night, you guys.


	20. Day Nine 3-4

**Level Pair; Day Nine 3/4**

They promised that dreams can come true—but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too. ~Oscar Wilde

 **Shouyou** watches the match from the edge of his seat, his heartbeat ticking an unsteady rhythm with each strike of the ball. His small hands are clasped in such a tight grip in front of him that the muscles in his arms shake and the skin up to his wrists is half white, not just his knuckles.

His unit had gotten there early and set him up out of sight at the back of one of the spectator stands. They hadn't been totally confident he'd remain unnoticed until they got there and found the stands half-filled already. Apparently a match between the Grand King and his son was a big draw.

He'd felt very out of place and self-conscious by himself up there instead of down on the airfield and that was when it hit him. Watching his unit, his teammates… his _friends_ warming up, he'd felt the weight of his reality full force yet again. He would never play with them again. He would never share the singular feeling of elation after scoring a point or winning a match, and knowing he'd directly contributed to the victory. He would never suffer the crushing depression of defeat alongside them, shouldering the loss with them. He'd never get to feel invincible with the team— with Kageyama, at his back again. He hadn't thought his heart could break any more… but he'd been wrong. As he'd watched them stretch and start sending balls popping between them, his soul fractured, the cracks spidering out through his very consciousness like a tattered web. He'd never be a part of this again.

Under the duress of lament, he'd sincerely doubted the wisdom of coming— until Kageyama had shown up. Shouyou had locked onto him the moment he saw him fly into the field area with the Grand King, his large black wings throwing the angled evening sunlight like scattered ribbons of gold. His face had been set in his normal disinterested expression when he'd broken off as their unit surrounded him. Shouyou had been hard pressed to find any indication in those first few movements that his wing was bothering him aside from a slight stiffness, but he hadn't been convinced that everything was somehow fine now.

Kageyama'd met and spoken with Daichi and the others, nodding a couple times before warming up. He hadn't looked off really in any way and Shouyou couldn't find anything in his face besides the tunnel vision focus he always got for a match. It had been both a relief and a stinging insult to his pride that his not being down there with them apparently wasn't bothering black-haired setter.

Noya and Tanaka, on the other hand, had kept looking up at him through the warmup and Shouyou had wanted to bark at them; if the goal was to make Kageyama think he was still in the infirmary, then why the hell were those idiots announcing his location with those seeking glances? He didn't think Kageyama had noticed, but Kageyama was generally a little more oblivious to unusual idiosyncrasies in his teammates— especially in a game. He'd once made it through three sets of a match before realizing Tanaka had cracked a rib on a midair collision with Asahi on one of the first plays in and was having a tougher time of it. Actually, the only reason he _had_ noticed was because the larger crow had more or less gone despondent mid-match and hadn't been able to hit anything, not because of Tanaka's ginger movements.

But they hadn't even started playing yet and he'd doubted Kageyama was that deep down the 'focus' rabbit hole yet. They'd all found his gaze at one point or another, but seriously, those two had been highlighting him like a spotlight until Daichi had whacked Noya with a wing when he'd caught him. Appropriately chastised, they'd carefully avoided his section after that.

He had taken a few moments to evaluate the other team and almost grimaced. The Grand King had handpicked half the players from their childhood nemesis team, the key one being Iwaizumi. Really, Iwaizumi was basically inducted into Tooru's inner circle already at this point and Shouyou is halfways surprised he hasn't been adopted into the family and made the heir apparent over Kageyama by now with how well those two seem to get along. The attacker was definitely in top form today, and comfortable, too, having even exchanged light banter with the Grand King at one point.

When they'd taken the pitch, Shouyou had been genuinely surprised at his unit's lineup. His unit had made Suga the designated setter and moved Kageyama into his own attack position. They'd set up with opposing setters in cross positions in the past with the setter on the front line doubling as a hitter so they could keep three attackers on the front line at all times, but it was rare. Shouyou could only remember it happening two or three times since he'd learned to play all those centuries ago.

Kageyama was phenomenal at all positions, but his strongest was the setting point. Yet in comparison to Suga, his attacks were superior. They had set up so Kageyama would be available to attack when he was in the front line. Shouyou had initially smirked at the tactical setup.

At least until the game began.

As the points began to fall, the grounded redhead had seen the flashes of movement that betrayed that injured wing. And they were worst when Kageyama went to attack. Every time he splayed that wing wide to hit the ball broadside and send it sailing over the net, Shouyou noticed the way it would close for an instant and he'd seem momentarily off balance.

They'd survived two rounds of the Grand King's serves thanks to Noya's impeccable receiving skills and even Daichi had gotten under one. Asahi and Tanaka were nailing perfect sets from both Suga and Kageyama as they cycled through positions. Shouyou knew he was privy to info regarding Kageyama's injury, so maybe that's why he was seeing it as if it were clear as day, but if one person's performance had steadily seemed to slide just a bit, it was the black haired setter's. His attacks were on point but not as powerful and he hadn't managed one of his insane serves all game. He was slowing just a bit as they lapsed past fifteen points apiece, and Shouyou had seen him noticeably flinch at least twice.

Kageyama had been the driving force behind their team since they were kids. He was always the one pushing them to get better, pointing out their faults so they could fix them, and working them until they were polished and perfect. His determination that they _all_ get better was as much the reason that they had been reigning Volley champions for centuries as their own personal drive. He still coordinates the field now, but he's taking a secondary position— an almost submissive demeanor. Shouyou can see that he's openly adhering to the calls of the others on the pitch, especially Suga, only forcing one of his own when he deems it necessary. It is the single greatest indicator that he isn't at full strength.

And Shouyou knows that Daichi and the others know it, too. They all move to compensate and stretch to their very limits to ease Kageyama's strain. And they've never looked more in sync to Shouyou. They are fluid, moving as if they were always only six, and the redhead feels another sharp pang in his gut. He feels more and more forced out of the only world he's ever known and all he can do is watch it happen. He can almost see the invisible distance between himself and the others yawn wider the longer he watches them, but while it tastes bitter in his mouth he can't bring himself to condemn it. The game has stayed nerve-wrackingly even because of how they are connecting, with both sides holding leads at one point but neither pulling ahead.

The score is still close now at nineteen to twenty, but Shouyou's nerves are rattling. It is the Grand King's serve once more, and he can tell that his unit is getting tired. Daichi manages to pop the serve up but it's off target and Kageyama is forced to react and take the second hit. He sets only to have Tanaka's strike blocked and it drops before Kageyama can get under it.

Nineteen, twenty-one.

Two more points land on Kageyama's side, one a service ace, and Shouyou doesn't even realize he's moving. He's down at the observation deck railing when the Grand King serves again and it comes off Daichi's arms wildly, leaving Kageyama scrambling. He gets a wing on it and keeps it in play but it crosses the net plane. A defender is there and sends it straight back at him and he can't quite react fast enough.

Match-point.

This is bad. They are five points behind and they only have one to lose. To make everything worse, Shouyou is sure the Grand King is somehow targeting Kageyama. Four of the last five points lost were off Kageyama's touches. It's almost like he's rubbing the match into the younger black-haired crow, making a point of making sure their loss is at Kageyama's direct expense and mistakes. Shouyou can't help but be angry and in the middle of his ire, he forgets himself.

"Kageyama!" He screeches, his piercing voice carrying across the open area.

Kageyama freezes and his eyes snap searchingly in his direction. The rest of his unit turns toward him and the crowd around them dampens.

"You better not lose, you moron!" He shouts down at him and the taller boy locks onto him. "If you fail, I'll never let you live it down that you couldn't win without me. I don't care what's at stake! Don't you _dare_ lose!"

Silence descends around them and Shouyou has an instant to regret his outburst and pitiful lack of control. Wasn't distracting Kageyama what they'd been trying to avoid?

And then Kageyama scoffs, a slight smirk pulling at his mouth.

"Your timing sucks, dumbass. The game isn't over yet." He says loudly before turning back to the field. Shouyou's mouth twitches. That was always something _he_ said when one of them started panicking because they were in a bad spot. That Kageyama, their resident Volley slavedriver and killjoy, is the one feeding it back to him now makes him want to both laugh and weep. The whole world really has gone mad.

The Grand King is watching them with a nonplussed expression and Shouyou recognizes annoyance. Tooru serves and Daichi brings it up perfectly. Suga is in place in a moment and the volley begins. Back and forth, both teams scramble and rally. Shouyou's nails are digging into the wood railing in front of him by the time Kageyama smokes it off a block and it sails out.

Twenty, twenty-four.

It's still match point, but they have the ball now. They have a chance. Their unit is all breathing hard, but so is the Grand King's team… and it's Kageyama's serve. Shouyou feels awful for wanting him to go all out even with his wing injured like it is, but he wants him to lose even less. Kageyama's serve is arguably his strongest direct weapon— though he hasn't hit one of those fast arcing ones yet today.

 _The game is almost over; hold out just a little longer Kageyama._ Shouyou mentally encourages him.

The black-haired crow tosses the ball high and bursts forward, his momentum spinning him ahead and his wing splays wide. Shouyou cringes only slightly as the ball cracks forward off the broadside and flies like it always does.

 _Ah, there it is._

It rockets toward a defender before careening and splitting the distance between two and dropping sharply. Shouyou lets out a joyous, exuberant 'whoop' and jumps where he stands. Kageyama's first serve is perfectly executed and perfectly untouchable.

Twenty-one, twenty-four.

So is his next.

Twenty-two, twenty-four.

His third isn't quite as powerful and quick and Shouyou sees him cringe after the ball leaves his wing. It doesn't matter, because it still ricochet's off a defender's touch.

Twenty-three, twenty-four.

Shouyou almost wants to breath easy because he can see the mood dropping on the other side of the net, but Kageyama is flexing that wing gingerly. He is talented enough that he can attack at the front line with either, but serving… his off side is definitely the weaker and he will have to stick with his injured dominant.

Shouyou's gut twists when he sees Suga zip over to him with a concerned look on his face. Kageyama shakes his head as the ball is tossed back to him and Suga reluctantly drops the issue. The team is all watching him, but Kageyama disregards their concern and lines up once more. He tosses and springs forward but his wing isn't splayed as wide when it connects. The serve is dead on, but is lacking its blazing speed.

A defender brings it up, the Grand King sets it, and an attacker hits. Noya dives, Kageyama— still resetting off the serve with what Shouyou can see is noticeable discomfort— sets off balance, and Asahi attacks.

From this distance, Shouyou catches the movement on the Grand King's side. He doesn't know if Kageyama or the others on the field saw the last second shift in the back line and wants to screech at them to prepare for a switch play. The Grand King receives Asahi's attack cleanly, popping it up perfectly to Iwaizumi who moves in to set. The ball goes right back to the Grand King who attacks from the back line and he aims directly for Kageyama.

The back line attack is harder for Shouyou's unit to time correctly to get the block and the ball brushes through Tanaka's reach. Kageyama scrambles, his entire body stretching, straining, to reach for the ball. It glances off one of the long bones of a wing but it's too low; even though Noya dives, he can't hope to reach it. The ball drops and the air field arena erupts.

People flood the pitch as the players all come to land but Shouyou can't move.

 _Kageyama lost._

He barely spares a thought for what this means for himself; he's more concerned with the black haired crow who'd immediately landed and now stands staring at the ground with rigid shoulders. His injured wing slowly flexes a couple times and Shouyou's pretty sure Kageyama doesn't even realize it. Suga clasps him on the shoulder and speaks to him intensely as the others surround him. But Kageyama doesn't look at any of them. Instead he raises his head and finds Shouyou, still standing at the railing of the stands.

His gaze is curiously vacant, and it terrifies the redhead. He's half over the railing, intending to buzz down toward them in a hurry before he pauses at Noya's frenzied shout.

"Oi! The stairs, you idiot!"

He blinks before remembering that he doesn't have wings. Huffing in frustration, he backtracks and heads for the stairs at breakneck speed. He's down on the field in a flash, but Kageyama is no longer with the group. The Grand King is leading him away with a hand on his shoulder and an easy smile on his face as if they were old friends and Shouyou feels ire glow white hot in his chest.

"Kageyama!" He yells.

The other boy's shoulders stiffen and he pauses for a moment, but doesn't look back. The Grand King says something with a half sigh before patting the shoulder and turning back towards them. Shouyou ignores him in favor of watching Kageyama walk off alone without a backward glance.

"You guys played well… I'm sure if Hinata had been in, we'd have never had a chance." The Grand Kings says and Shouyou finally glances at him with a dark frown.

"We thank you for the opportunity." Daichi says, the chip not quite perfectly masked in his voice.

"We should go again sometime. As per our agreement, Tobio will be transferred under my command. You have all been moved under the game master and you will get your rehoming order shortly." He says briskly before turning his brown eyes on Shouyou with intent. "I recommend the rest of you go collect your things so you can move tonight yet. I would like to chat with Hinata for a bit before he heads back to the infirmary."

Shouyou may have had a healthy amount of respect for this man, but he has no great _like_ for him. This is the man that made Kageyama what he was before the rest of them came along. That kid that never smiled or ever looked like he was having fun… or that he even knew what fun was. That lost, lonely kid he'd been so long ago— that still occasionally surfaces— this person was the cause of that and Shouyou has no desire to speak with him.

"Hinata, it will be alright. Your mom is supposed to be on her way back to stay with you tonight, so we will see you later." Suga says reassuringly when he stays silent after the Grand King's remark.

"Thanks." He says bluntly without breaking eye contact with the dark eyes of Kageyama's father. The rest of his unit leaves reluctantly and it's just the two of them surrounded by sentries aimlessly conversing around them.

"Shall we take a walk?" Tooru asks.

 _Where, off a cliff?_ Shouyou bites his tongue and nods.

"Can't exactly fly anymore, so sure." He can't help himself and the words slip out with distaste. The Grand King huffs in amusement.

"You've grown bolder, too." He says and turns away. Shouyou falls into step beside him.

"Yes, well… I've already had my wings shorn, what more could you do to me?" He asks cynically.

"I suppose you have a point. I had wanted to ask you about the attack. Do you remember anything that would help?"

Shouyou frowns. He'd have thought this would have been one of the first things he'd have been asked upon his return but this was the first time he was hearing it. Even Kageyama hadn't pressed him for anything which… Shouyou did find a little odd but an immense relief all the same.

"Probably not. He was big, easily larger than you or Kageyama with white wings. I didn't recognize him at all but I figure he was probably an eagle or something. He didn't exactly stop to introduce himself." Shouyou says haltingly.

"I see. It is regrettable that you lost your wings; I'm sure everyone will miss you."

Shouyou turns a bland look of irritation toward the Grand King.

"I'm not dead." He grouses and the King smiles cheekily.

"No, you aren't. I will make sure we have a suitable place on the ground picked out within reasonable proximity for you."

The redhead scoffs.

"That didn't take long." He mutters and almost flinches with feral tension when the Grand King drops an arm over his shoulder.

"Hinata, try to understand. Tobio has a large role to fill; he cannot afford the distraction of looking after a grounded unit member. I know unit ties are strong and he will feel compelled to tend to you because of that, but the extra stress will do nothing but make him resent you. The less contact you have with him, the better he will be able to focus on his other responsibilities. This is really the best option for him and I can assure you, you will be comfortable."

Shouyou feels another flash of white anger even as the words strike deep, their brutality not dulled even when Shouyou reminds himself who they are coming from. The doubt has always been there; the Grand King has simply voiced it aloud.

"I don't need your pity." He snaps, stamping down the choking feeling in his throat, and the Grand King blinks at him with surprise.

"Then what do you want? You did save Tobio's life, by his own words. I owe you something for that." He says with a patronizing note, his arm dropping away and his eyes turning a bit darker.

Shouyou's frown grows agitated.

"I _want_ you to be a parent for Kageyama, not a ruler." He growls. "He's finally figured out how to be more than that and you are separating him from everything he cares about."

"He must start more intensive training in order to take over one day." Tooru reasons genially and Shouyou scoffs.

"You are phenomenal at strategy and tactics. You excel in bringing out the best in people or using the worst in them as you see fit, but you don't know a damn thing about Kageyama. If you can't figure out how isolated this will make him, then you are going to lose him."

"Being a ruler is to be alone, and he will frequently have to make difficult choices; it is better for him to learn that lesson young." He says easily. Shouyou's gaze goes hollow.

"That's pointless—not even _you_ rule alone. You can't do it without your unit leaders and enforcers, so why would you ever expect _him_ to? Nevermind the stupidity of it; the way you did it was low. On some level, I guess I can kind of understand you forcing him to make the choice, I can even forgive you taking everything away from him provided you leave him with _something_ to fight for. Things like that happen in life… but that match…" Shouyou glares at him a long moment. "If you can't figure out how you failed, then I won't tell you either; Kageyama wouldn't appreciate it anyway." He says venomously.

Tooru pauses, his eyes sharpening.

"You mean his wing." He says and Shouyou stares at him.

Rage, cold and icy, slides through his veins.

"You knew." He says, offhandedly surprising himself when he answers in a level voice. "You knew and still you forced that match." A huff of disbelief escapes him. "And you have no idea why we all call you monster. You're the worst. These people might blindly adore you, but there's something amiss when your own son can't stand you. You have no idea what lengths he'll go to just to avoid you. And what's more, you don't seem get _why_."

"Tobio and I have always had this arrangement. He's known since day one what is expected of him." He says dispassionately, a tightness around his eyes that somehow seems out of place. But it doesn't deter him and Shouyou steps close, closing a hand on his shirt. The redhead glares up at the Grand King, almost expecting retaliation for the action but couldn't care less.

"That right there is the issue. You have an _arrangement_ , not a relationship. You _can_ be a King and a father, those aren't mutually exclusive. For your sake, I hope you learn that before the one thing you really care about finally abandons you. For his sake, I hope you try." Shouyou growls in a low voice.

It doesn't matter that he is smaller than the man before him, weaker, and now grounded, too. His temper has slipped out of his control and he knows it. For a moment he doesn't care because all he wants to do is yell and hit and punch this jerk until he _gets_ it. Instead, he releases the Grand King's shirt with disgust and turns away. His outbursts have probably already made Kageyama's immediate future that much more bleak— and his efforts are all probably wasted anyway.

"Where are you going, Shrimpy?"

There's an odd tension in his voice that Shouyou can't place and wants to bridle so badly at the nickname the Grand King gave him so long ago in those first years, but he keeps his gaze straight ahead.

"Back to the infirmary. Take care of Kageyama, Grand King." He spits.

Kageyama's father lets him go. It's just as well because Shouyou is almost blind with irrational anger. He makes it back to the infirmary with decent time considering he's hoofing it— eighth hour call rings out just as he gets there— but that might be because his whole frame is still positively _vibrating_ with irritation. He ducks inside and heads for his room, still replaying the Grand King's words over and over in his head and, even though he knows that tumbling these thoughts around repeatedly will only make him more irate, he can't help it.

But it's not the only thing. As much as he's rattling with rage, he's nearly trembling with a pervasive dread. The Grand King had quickly found and laid bare the single greatest fear that has lingered in his head since this all began. What if Kageyama _was_ frustrated with this turn of events? What if he really did feel compelled to look after him, _not_ because he wanted to, but because it would simply be what was _expected_ since he'd been part of their unit? What if Kageyama felt as if Shouyou was now a burden to be _borne_? Would he really come to detest him because he'd always have to deal with the stress of making sure Shouyou was okay on top of the monumental task of leading the murder? Would he really rather just not have to deal with all of this? Would he really want Shouyou to leave?

He's nearly to his room when a thump makes him pause in the middle of working himself into a chaotic frenzy of anxious fear and toxic ire, and he glances over his shoulder with a frown.

Did that guy he just passed trip or something?

There's another heavy impact and Shouyou discerns a large form hitting the floor around the corner. His neck prickles with unease and he takes a step backward. He's almost freaked out of his skin when he's shoved aside by another sentry heading for where that brief scuffle echoed and died in moments. But he doesn't even make the corner as someone covered from head to toe in shapeless attire meets him head on.

Shouyou instinctively backs up against the wall. The intruder is smaller than the sentry crow and the lithe limbs make him think it's a woman, but after the first swing from the sentry, he knows she's wicked quick. She dodges and returns the attack and no more than a few seconds have gone by and the larger crow is slumping to the floor. She looks up and heads his way and his hackles instantly rise. She's probably just as strong as he is and he's willing to bet just as fast— possibly even faster… and he has no wings so he can't flee.

 _Oi. Not good._

He adopts a defensive stance all the same. And then falters when she raises a finger to where her mouth would be under her covering. He frowns… because the gaze staring back at him— he knows it.

"What—?"

She cuts him off with a shake of her head and grabs his arm before he even thinks to react. And then he's stumbling along behind her at a ridiculous pace, her wings blasting air into his face. They are outside the infirmary in moments and he nearly stumbles over the unconscious guard just outside the door. He watches her critically, his confusion mounting all the more.

He's _sure_ he _knows_ this person. All of her movements are familiar, just more precise and determined. She jerks him to the side and skirts the building, sticking to the shadows as much as possible. He's so completely blindsided by this turn of events, he has no idea what to think, because the feeling he's got forming in the back of his head is tripping him out. He finally pulls up, slowing her to a stop. She turns back to him urgently and tugs once more.

"No! What's going on?" He asks with a deep frown. She shakes her head.

"In a minute, Shouyou." She says and his eyes nearly fall from their sockets as her soft voice hits his ears. She takes the opportunity to capitalize on his shock and they are off again.

His thoughts have totally scattered on him. He ambles along behind her, utterly bewildered and any resistance long sapped from his limbs. He can barely form a single coherent thought.

 _Mom?_

 _..._

 _What the h_ ell?

A/N: Longest chapter so far... and probably my most maddening one. Seriously, like 9 rewrites on it and I'm thoroughly convinced that I have no handle on Oikawa's character at all. It feels slower to me and definitely rougher/less 'easy' than earlier chapters until the very end. I don't like how it came out, and I was still making little edits the last few minutes before posting. My patience kind of gave me a healthy 'f-you' and this is the result; I hope it's still interesting... I'm off to do another rewrite on the next chapter for tomorrow :)


	21. Day Nine 44

**Level Pair; Day Nine 4/4**

Love seeketh not itself to please, nor itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a heaven in hell's despair. ~William Blake

 **Kageyama** sees the flash of grey wing out of the corner of his eye just as the eighth hour call echoes across the rookery. He takes in a deep breath in the fading light and then moves.

There are four sentries around him, assigned to him to ensure he follows through on his end of the deal, he's sure. He must've seemed despondent because he catches two off guard. He slams one of his wings into the back of the head of one of the sentries who walks just ahead of him and leaps at the other.

 _Lucky hit_ , he notes as the first goes down.

He swings a fist into the ear of the second he'd jumped on and he, too, collapses. Kageyama knows this one's still conscious because he's grasping at his ear, but he's banking that the ringing filling his head will be enough of a temporary distraction and straightens to deliver another blow with a wing to finish knocking him out, too. He turns to see the other two staring at him in shock.

 _That's a mistake,_ he muses and launches himself at them.

At the last moment, the shadow of gray wings behind one makes him target the other. The sentry backpedals before resetting himself and taking a jab at him but Kageyama's blood is racing. His reflexes can't be beaten right now and he ducks and brings his fist up under the other sentry's chin. As he stumbles backward, Kageyama takes aim and lands another against his throat. The sentry goes down choking and he delivers one more strike to finish him off. He turns to where he can hear the other tussling with his accomplice.

He will have to thank Suga; there's no way he'd have managed to best all four in the open like this without help. The thrush is huddled up behind the last sentry, keeping the crow's arms pinned and still remaining mostly out of the way of his thrashing wings. Kageyama winds up and decks him solidly across the jaw. The sentry's head lolls in a daze and Kageyama brings a wing down across his skull to finish it. He goes limp and Suga lets him slide to the ground.

It's only been a matter of seconds but a quick glance ensures that all four are out. And then they are off, Suga streaking across the dimming sky in the lead. Kageyama's wing is protesting heavily, but his adrenaline is doing wonders at muting it.

"Do you think anyone saw?" The thrush asks just over the wind noise in their ears. Kageyama shakes his head once.

"I think they were more concerned about me." He says evenly.

For a moment, Kageyama doubts the thrush's choices, because they are heading directly back to the bulk of his father's military barracks and buildings. But when he skirts low around them, Kageyama realizes why.

Shouyou can't fly; Kageyama must go to him. Still, his nerves are on edge and he expects to be noticed at any moment. When they drop through the trees and buzz toward an empty launch platform, he has to marvel. The failing light must really hide their movement well. They land and a small form that he hadn't noticed in the air jumps slightly and rounds on them. Behind the covered figure, he sees Hinata's orange hair and almost breathes a sigh of relief.

"Kageyama!" The redhead says in a contradictory quiet exuberance with his eyes snapping with excitement, as if he knows he needs to use caution but can't keep it in. "You'll never believe this! This is my mom!" He says brightly and Kageyama can tell he's struggling to keep a low profile. Still, the words sink in and Kageyama blinks before turning toward with abrupt study. Hinata is right… Momma Yu's eyes—the same color as Noya's—stare back.

"Thank you for all your help." He says quietly with a bow, slightly out of breath from their race across the rapidly dimming sky.

"Kageyama, she took out _at least_ three sentries. She's _amazing_!"

"I would hope so," Suga says over his shoulder in a soft voice. "She was upper military rank at one point. Noya gets it from both sides, you know."

Kageyama didn't know how Daichi would pull something together, hadn't asked. He'd simply left it in his hands and opted to trust him. And he intends to use the opening Daichi and Suga and Momma Yu have bought them.

"Sorry. We don't have a lot of time. We need to get going." He says pointedly.

"Wait! I don't get it, didn't we just get back? And what are you doing here?" Hinata fires off questions and Kageyama wants to curse at his inquisitiveness _now_ of all times.

"I will explain later, but we need to leave." He says stiffly.

"Just because I'm grounded and won't be able to stay doesn't mean you have to abandon everything, too." Shouyou says with a hard edge and Kageyama turns a fierce frown on him.

"That's not it. I will tell you once we are safe." He growls.

"No."

"Hinata, don't—"

"The Grand King put a mark on you, Hinata." Suga breaks in softly. Hinata's face goes slack.

"What?" His voice squeaks out, pitifully small and bewildered.

"He can't stand me being around you so he wants you out of the picture— even if that means dead." Kageyama says, the bite in his voice making the redhead jump.

"This was always the backup plan, Hinata." Suga says in a mildly pleading voice. The redhead looks between them, his expression crumbling.

"Then why did we come back?" Hinata asks, his eyes glossing over with watery tears.

Kageyama scoffs and reaches for him, unable to stop himself. He hasn't seen Shouyou in over a day; the action isn't just for the other boy's benefit. He pulls Hinata into an embrace, his agitated nerves calming at the contact. He hugs the smaller redhead to himself, burying his face in his hair.

"Because I was an idiot and thought everything would work out. By the time I realized the board, everything was already in play and we were stuck. I won't let him banish you. I'm going with you." He says roughly.

A warning bell makes them all jump, and Suga's glancing around sharply.

"That's the infirmary. It won't be long before they notice you are gone, too. Your father won't be far behind." He says and Kageyama nods and pulls away from Hinata, though he doesn't release him completely as the smaller boy turns back toward Momma Yu with an uncertain gaze.

"Shouyou, you and Kageyama have to go, now. Be careful and be safe. We will see you guys again." She says urgently and quickly hugs him, her own gaze going misty while Kageyama glances at Suga.

"Let the others know when it's safer?" He asks, giving the thrush a deep look. Suga nods and follows them to the end of the launch platform.

"Go east until you hit the sea and then go south until the sun rises and sets over it. Once you get there, keep watch for a coastal town called Sheru Bay with green roofed houses and a thriving shell market. We will come find you there when it is safe." He says, grasping Kageyama's arm in a firm grip. Kageyama nods and secures the silent Hinata in his hold and leaps.

"Take care of him, Kageyama." The Nishinoya matriarch's words are barely a whisper over the wind in his ears but Kageyama hears them just the same.

 _With everything I am._ He looks back once, but the platform is empty.

He spreads his wings and catches a draft and Hinata's own hands find his arms in a vice grip. His wing is protesting but he couldn't care less. He's had a couple real meals in his belly the last few days despite how ungrateful he was for them at the time so his energy levels are sufficient. And right now, he knows they are still much too close and anyone could spot them in the gray light. They have to get out.

Kageyama banks to head east as more warnings go up from the rookery and he curses darkly. They aren't far enough away and carrying Hinata, he will never be able to outstrip another sentry. Word will spread quickly and the hunt will be on. He pushes his wings forward, putting as much distance behind him as he can. He's closing in on a league out when a cry goes up behind him and he knows they've been spotted.

 _Dammit._

"Kageyama…" Hinata says, the fear catching in his voice. His wings automatically respond to the skip his heartbeat does and they strain a little more. How far can they get before someone catches them?

 _No_. They can't be caught. All of this will be for nothing and his dad will kill Shouyou for sure then.

It's getting dark. Maybe they can put a little more distance between them and then drop down for the night through the trees. But then they have the issue of the forest crawling with his father's sentries when they wake in the morning. Even so, he surveys the landscape beneath them, the trees appearing black against the darkening gray horizon. Their prospects look worse by the moment and Kageyama swears colorfully. His only choice is to fly until he drops.

Something whips by him, so close that he can feel the 'whoosh' of air as it goes by his shoulder. Hinata jolts, jostling his hold.

"Oi! Don't jerk like that!" Kageyama barks, trying to reset his grip.

"That was a _net_ Kageyama!" His voice is panicky and it prods at Kageyama's own nerves.

"I don't care! You flinching like that doesn't help my—"

Another zips by, clipping one of Kagayama's wings. He sucks in a breath and they careen wildly, his grasp on Hinata growing precarious in an instant.

"Crap!" He grunts when he feels him sliding from his grip.

The breath goes out of his lungs and he's terrified he's going to lose him altogether before his hands find purchase around Hinata's wrists. Kageyama struggles to regain control of their course, his wings trying to stabilize them. It doesn't work and they are fast losing altitude.

Kageyama can just make out the tops of the trees below him an instant before they punch through the branches. Hinata is wrenched from his grasp and he hears the other boy release a yip and then an outright cry. He plummets through the upper branches of an oak, their give slowing him just enough that he is able to half-ways right himself and roll out of the impact with the ground.

He's on his feet in an instant but he can barely see anything in the last lingering bit of light. He takes a deep breath and tries to listen over the racing pulse of his own heart. And then he hears it. Harsh breathing and a single whimper. It's not much but Kageyama zeros in on it and pushes blindly through the underbrush towards its location. He trips twice and catches a branch to the face more times than he cares to count but he finally drops over a fallen tree and there's Hinata. He reaches out only for Hinata to cower away from his touch.

"It's me, idiot." Kageyama half-whispers and reaches for him again.

Hinata is curled on his side, a hand grasping at his shoulder and Kageyama can feel the back of his shirt is wet. His gut twists.

 _Hinata is bleeding._

He must have hit the feather base and reopened the wound in his fall. The echo of wingbeats filters down through the trees from above them and Kageyama instinctively kneels over the redhead, his wings splaying with defensive aggression, his eyes uselessly scanning the sky above them.

"It hurts." Hinata whimpers and Kageyama glances down at him— he doesn't know why because he can barely see him and won't be able to decipher his expression anyway.

"It's going to be okay, I promise." Kageyama wonders if Hinata can tell how unsure he is… how frightened he _really_ is.

A twig snaps off to their side and Kageyama faces the threat, tension flooding his limbs.

"This way." I quiet voice slips through the dark. They both go still. A long moment passes in silence.

"Who are you." Kageyama demands, never wavering from his protective stance over Hinata.

"They will come with torches soon. We have to go now." The quiet voice says back. Shouyou shifts and Kageyama frowns. The voice is probably right. If their quarry is a great enough priority, the sentries occasionally go out with torches to see by.

 _And what could be a greater prize than the Grand King's own son,_ Kageyama muses ruefully.

"How do you expect us to do that? We can't see in the dark." He grouses, still on edge. Shouyou gingerly pushes to his knees and Kageyama backs off just a bit.

"Hinata?" He asks with surprise.

"I can." He says softly, his breathing still ragged.

"What?" Kageyama asks, mentally tripping.

"I can see… not well, but…I can see your eyes."

Kageyama can tell by where Hinata's voice falls that he's looking toward the newcomer.

"Can you follow?" The voice asks. Hinata straightens beside him.

"I can try." He says, latching onto Kageyama's arm and pulling them both to their feet. Kageyama stumbles after him, bewildered beyond comprehension.

Hinata can see in the dark. As minimally as it is— because he's still running into bushes and shrubs and sticks which Kageyama then runs into in turn…it still sends Kageyama reeling, because he can't see a thing.

 _Maybe he's actually going off sound,_ he wonders.

But when Kageyama listens for their nocturnal guide, he can't hear anything above their own fumbling. Were Hinata's eyes always this much better than his own? Maybe that was why he always caught onto everything so quick— because he missed _nothing_. He's so lost amid trying to keep his feet under him and wondering how the heck he never knew this about the smaller boy, that he doesn't notice as time starts passing.

But he does notice the blackness.

Being blind is suffocating… and terrifying. He can feel Hinata's vice grip still on his arm but he can't see him. He can hear his breathing and feel the heat coming off his body, but he can't see him. He knows Hinata is there in front of him, still making steady progress step by step… but he inexplicably wants to _see_ the redhead. The darkness is oppressive and it makes his gut pull in unease. All he wants to do is curl up with Hinata and banish the black weight in sleep.

The next time he looks up, though, his eyes catch glimpses of pinpricks of light in the sky through the trees. It gives him a measure of relief that he hadn't managed to fall into some world where he might never see again.

They've been walking— stumbling— along for what Kageyama is sure is hours when their guide finally banks off to the side. Hinata dutifully follows and Kageyama feels rock under his hands. Their steps echo off hard surfaces and he realizes it's a cave.

"Watch your head—"

Kageyama walks smack into a rock and drops backward. Hinata is quickly turning around to check on him as he sits up with a hand to the nice new cut on his forehead.

"Sorry, I wasn't quick enough." Their guide says before a stone click echoes through the cavern once, twice. A spark catches some dry tinder several feet away toward the back and as a fire blooms into life, Kageyama gets his first look at their savior.

Golden ears poke out of blond hair that frames a face set with golden eyes. He nearly swallows his tongue. It's a cat…a golden cat. They were lured out here to the middle of nowhere by a _cat_.

Cat, cat, cat.

Hinata jumps when Kageyama leaps to his feet. He latches onto Hinata's arm and starts pulling him backward.

"Kageyama, what the hell!" He grouches.

"It's a _CAT_!" He snaps but Hinata shrugs him off.

"I knew that." He says bluntly. Kageyama stares at him.

"And you still followed him?" He asks incredulously.

"We could've waited for your dad's sentries to find us." Hinata says blandly. Kageyama brings a hand to his head as it starts a steady throb.

"Don't you pay any attention to all the reports?" He growls.

"Sure, but he didn't attack us before." The redhead says as if it makes perfect sense.

 _Before._ This was one of the cats that tailed them? In an instant, Kageyama's patience is spent.

"How can you be so _stupid_?" Kageyama sputters.

"You don't like it, you can always go back home." Hinata retorts with a deep frown and that one stings.

Kageyama's stomach flips on him. Maybe he wasn't as rested as he thought.

"You've got to be kidding. After everything I went through to get you out of there?" He complains, his eyes narrowing in stark irritation. Shouyou glares up at him.

"I didn't ask you to save me. You still have a perfect life you can return to, you know. You can leave whenever you want, I won't stop you." He says reproachfully, his eyes snapping with fire.

"Shut up, dumbass. I told you, I'm going to stay with you." He mutters crossly, but the words lack their bite. The very thought of Hinata _not_ wanting him around has never occurred to him, and it knocks the air from his lungs.

"And I never asked you to, so don't treat me like I'm some obligation! You don't have to feel responsible for me because of some misplaced sense of duty! You don't owe me anything!" Hinata barks and somehow, the fact that the redhead even says it makes everything a hundred times worse. He's always had Hinata's blind faith; the sudden accusation is enough to render him silent and Kageyama blinks, realization hitting right alongside his emotionally painful recoil.  
Kageyama's head is pulsing from the impromptu meeting with the rock a moment ago, it feels like his chest is constricted, and all of his muscles have been slapped with fatigue. He feels like hell both inside and out. It isn't just bodily exhaustion; he's almost ready to vomit. Hinata looks pale as well despite the impressive glare on his face.

' _Breaking'._

If they keep arguing, they will both end up in dire straits. He lets out a sigh that's closer to a groan and it almost hurts. Trying to stem the urge to lean over in case he _does_ throw up, he turns away from the redhead, a hand rising up to his brow. Everything aches. Kageyama can't help but think he's noticing it that much more now because he finally knows what's happening. He feels a mild pang of vertigo wash over him and reaches out to the cave wall to ground himself, his shoulders hunching a bit.

 _Did they really just ignore all this anytime they fought in the past?_ He wonders. For the life of him, he can't imagine how, because he can barely manage his mental thoughts at the moment, let alone his physical condition.

"Look Shouyou." Kageyama murmurs, knowing the redhead's first name will jar his attention. "All the training, the work, the missions, everything I cared about, I cared about because I was told to. There are three things that I actively _chose_ to care about and only one of them wasn't mandated. I cared about Volley, I cared about our unit, and I cared about a stupid redhead. I'm sure you can figure out which one I wasn't supposed to."

His last words are sullen; he feels like he said more than he meant. Probably a lot more. But he can't bring himself to care, and Kageyama can imagine the shock on Shouyou's face— and if he weren't so frustrated and feeling like such utter _crap_ , he'd find the thought both cute and endearing.

"Kageyama…" Hinata squeaks but the dark haired boy barely moves. He doesn't know if he can without just folding up where he's at. He just feels so _tired._

"I made my choice, Shouyou, because it's what I wanted. Don't insult my resolve."

His face feels hot and he realizes it's probably coloring with a flush. It's dim and though he hopes on some level that Hinata will miss it, he's sure those almond eyes are as sharp as ever. They _did_ make it all the way here because he was able to see the cat through the dark.

He absently wishes it was Shouyou's vision that suffered the injury instead before he rebukes himself harshly. Shouyou with no eyes would be as bad as Shouyou with no wings because those expressive orbs have grown on him just as much.

He tenses slightly and draws in a breath when small arms snake around his chest in a strong grip.

"Don't expect me to thank you, moron." The mass of orange fuzz says with a peculiar scratchiness against his back. "But… I'll stay with you, too."

The vertigo dissipates and Kageyama can't help but wonder if the contact is what did it.

"Um, if you guys are finished, you should probably get some sleep. It will be warmer by the fire, and I can keep watch." The cat says from behind them and Kageyama is chagrined on more than one level that he was conspicuously silent through their little argument. Given their excellent hearing, he's sure the little bastard probably eavesdropped through the whole thing.

Hinata lets go and Kageyama wants to grumble about that, too, before the redhead grabs his hand and tugs him toward the back of the cave. Still feeling like he's on the verge of collapse, he has no energy to fight. Pushing aside his aches and discomfort, he reluctantly follows, his eyes keeping tabs on the golden-haired cat who's crouched and tending to the low flame. Hinata waits for Kageyama to take a wary seat before dropping beside him with a small smile back in place, his knee close enough to brush up against him.

The redhead quickly starts up an idle conversation with the rather reserved boy. Kageyama learns his name: Kenma. And with how easily Hinata chatters away at him, it becomes a curse on his tongue. The cat is, however, pretty limited socially. He's forthcoming with answers to Hinata's incessant questions, but he lacks almost completely in providing much detail or emotion to most of them.

Apparently there used to be a much larger contingency of cats that had been largely eradicated in recent centuries, but there are still a few of them around. Kenma and his companion saw them the other day on their way back to the rookery and Kenma confirms that they pinpointed the crows' location because of Hinata's initial screech. Kageyama wants to demand where the other black cat is now, but Hinata beats him to it.

"Oh, Kuroo? He was out scouting today. He'll probably be back before first light."

It makes Kageyama wonder if the other cat will be back to gang up on them and kill them in their sleep. Hinata, on the other hand, isn't fazed in the least.

An hour later, he's talked himself out of the waking world. He's crashed out with his head on Kageyama's shoulder and the black-haired boy gently secures him against his chest. He must be a bit out of it as he protectively pulls him closer, because he completely blanks them being a level pair. Maybe it's fatigue or maybe it's the crazy hellish day they've had, or perhaps he is just too determined to keep a guardedly suspicious eye on their camp mate, but it completely slips his mind. Until the soft glow of Hinata's once again damaged feather base catches the cat's attention.

His golden eyes go wide, his mouth dropping for a moment and Kageyama tenses slightly as he realizes what happened, his mind starting to turn faster under the threat of this cat knowing their secret.

"Ah. That makes more sense now." The cat says with a nod. The remark is so offhand and confusing that Kageyama frowns in bafflement, all mental processing shattered.

"What?"

"You're a level pair. I couldn't figure out your dynamic. It's antagonistic but also oddly intimate at times." He says as he drops another log on the fire. "You are very lucky. Most avians never find theirs."

"If you breathe a word of it to anyone, Shouyou included, I'll skin you alive." Kageyama delivers the threat with an icy stare and Kenma blinks at him.

"Why wouldn't you want _him_ to know? He's your leveler." The cat asks, largely unfazed by his animosity and it's unsettling.

Kageyama shakes his head with a frown, a wave of uncertainty washing over him.

"I don't know if I can bring his wings back. I won't give him false hope." He murmurs, looking down at the sleeping redhead. The cat's head cocks slightly.

"Eh… that makes everything much clearer and at the same time, no sense at all." Kenma remarks with an eyebrow arching slightly, before fluidly getting up. "I'm going to go keep watch. Let me know if you need anything."

 _A room with a door and a lock,_ Kageyama mentally grouses.

He can hardly believe that he is spending a night in a cave with a cat. He doubts he will find much rest tonight with the way his nerves are still pent up. But… Hinata is sleeping peacefully, his small patch of feathers glowing away.

For now, it is enough.

A/N: I felt much better about this chapter than the previous two... those were the bane of my existence the entire last week and I pretty much made no progress on the last chapter I still have to finish. Also, kudos to anyone who caught the subtle blindness nod to another of Craziiwolf's amazing AUs. You should totally visit her Tumblr page to find either the khwinged AU (the one this story was inspired by) or her khblindness AU. Or any of her AUs, all of her art is awesome.

Also, I was working on this one over my lunch break yesterday and a coworker pops over my shoulder and goes 'watcha doin?' and I was like, yep, nope, done trying to multitask at work. It's funny because I have no reservations about posting for you guys, but I'm petrified of what someone I see every day in a professional capacity might think- and they even know I write. Not everyone is as awesome as you guys, I guess. Hope you enjoyed; I'm going to go see if I can't kill off my motivation by arguing with that last chapter :)


	22. Day Ten 1-1

**Level Pair; Day Ten 1/1**

In a life where waking hours are draped in the costume of horrid nightmare, where reality has become questionable, it's easy to be scared by dreams. ~Scott Sigler

 **Kageyama** is convinced that perhaps the last ten days were all a nightmare as he sifts through the last hazy dregs of sleep. He hears Hinata call for 'One more!' like he always does when they are practicing for an upcoming Volley game.

They could stay out by torchlight for hours past dusk practicing their hits. Kageyama could be bone tired after a hard day of training and drills and he'd still drag himself out to a Volley pitch if Hinata asked. There were plenty of times Kageyama would rather have ditched it and just gone and slept off their latest punishment, but he loves the game, too… and he can't tell the redhead no in any case. The brilliant smile that blooms on his face and the shout he releases when they get it down just perfect will always win him over, his own mouth itching to return the grin. And Kageyama knows he'll always toss for that little shrimp if only to see that smile.

His eyes drift open to see the rocks above him illuminated by the morning light filtering into the cats' cave, and the world crashes back down. He draws in a long breath, his own thoughts dampening his mood. Hinata may never play Volley again… the thought of never seeing that exuberant beaming smile after a perfectly executed attack makes his chest tighten.

"One more!"

Kageyama jars slightly, his eyes blowing wide. He can still see the cave ceiling; he knows he's not asleep this time. And he'd know Hinata's voice anywhere.

He hears the light tap of a ball against the stone floor and then the quiet tick off of fingers and he recognizes the sound of a set. He sucks in a breath. Footsteps and then a pause… and then the ball taps the ground again and Hinata grunts in frustration.

"One more!"

Kageyama flinches and bolts upright, his gaze spinning toward where Hinata tosses a ball over the golden cat's head. Kenma lines up and brings his hands up to set and Hinata takes a few quick steps and leaps. He swings with his hand because he no longer has wings. His fingers just barely tip the ball and it drops again. Seeing him trying so hard only to fail to connect is a soul shattering image for Kageyama. He knows what he used to be able to do— how awesome he really was at Volley— and seeing him struggle now makes his throat close up.

"Hinata…" He says weakly and the redhead whips around.

"Kageyama! You're awake!" He flashes an excited smile and bounds over toward him, leaving Kageyama off balance. Kenma catches up the ball and follows much more subdued.

"Kageyama, guess what! Cats play Volley, too!" He says animatedly. Kageyama stares at him.

"Do they?" He manages, still trying to swallow his bout of emotion before Kenma walks up behind the smaller boy.

"If you want to take that skin and go get some water for him, Shouyou, I'll grab some breakfast." He says quietly. Hinata pauses for a moment and the smile disappears.

"Ah, I completely forgot. Hold on!" He says before grabbing the skin and disappearing out the mouth of the cave in a flash of speed before Kageyama can protest. He turns back to Kenma accusingly.

"Are you sure it's fine for him to be outside? What about the sentries?"

Kenma pulls open a sack and fishes around inside it without looking up.

"I checked a half hour ago. There's no one within two leagues of us… though there's a cloud of crows to the north where you guys came down."

He finally pulls out a leaf-wrapped bundle and hands it to him. Kageyama takes it reflexively, and belatedly frowns at the action. He just took something from a _cat_ without a second thought. He really must be running on nerves… that or he's just stupid.

"If you're sure… and where do you get off calling him Shouyou?" He grouches, not realizing it had even registered with irritation a moment earlier. Kenma pauses and glances at him uncertainly.

"It makes him happy."

Kageyama blinks before glancing down at the bundle in his hands, trying not to sulk and positive that he's failing. He frowns and carefully unwraps it to find cooked rabbit meat inside. He stares at it a long moment before gingerly taking a bite, his mind recalling the tension he'd woken with once more.

"Are you sure it's the best idea to dangle a Volley ball in front of him? He may never play again." He says quietly, more pain bleeding into the words than he'd have ever imagined. Kenma drops across from him but doesn't meet his gaze.

"One of the best ways to work out 'normal' after something life-changing is to start with something familiar." He says softly. "He is still off balance and has to figure out how to move properly without the counter of his wings, but I'm sure he can still play. I mean, we play without wings so there's no reason he can't. He's still hitting way too far ahead of himself because he's used to the weight behind him but I'm sure he'll learn fast. He'll play again… it just might not be twenty feet in the air."

Kageyama has no idea how to take that. Honestly it makes him feel inadequate and completely incompetent at taking care of the shrimp.

It feels like he's been the root of all the redhead's hardship right down to the white-winged bastard's attack. Kageyama had been the initial target; Shouyou had ended up collateral damage. Then Kageyama brought him back to a place that was just as hostile even if he had initially believed it could be otherwise, and it had been difficult for him to stomach on top of that. Then their flight and hell, Kageyama had _dropped_ him last night. And that argument… he carefully avoids thinking about it because it makes him tense with a burning sensation in his lungs.

He remembers the smaller crow's excitement a moment ago and his frown deepens. They haven't even been with the cat twenty-four hours and Hinata's smiled— really smiled— more than he has in the last ten days. There's probably some merit to his words.

"Ano… it's just a thought, but you might want to learn our Ground Volley, too. Once he gets it down, you're the first person he's going to want to play with." Kenma murmurs before looking up as the ball of orange energy comes bouncing loudly back into the cave.

"Oi, Kageyama, catch!" He calls and slings the skin towards him.

The taller crow has a moment to tense with trepidation as the skin lands in his hands and half of the water sloshes out on top of him. His eye twitches slightly with instant annoyance as his shirt ends up soaked.

"Ah, sorry! I thought I had it capped." He says with a cheeky grin as he comes up beside him and sits briskly. When he throws a devious glance at him, Kageyama almost feels like they are kids again, rapidly winding up for a bickering match of the year.

"Obviously." Kageyama drawls. This he can do. This old antagonistic familiarity, this is easy.

"Aw, don't be cranky. You looked tired this morning so I even let you sleep in." He says before his face lights up and Kageyama knows he's just remembered something.

"Oh, I also saw Kuroo. He was up one of the tall trees right outside."

Kageyama isn't awake enough yet and can barely keep up with everything that keeps flying at him, but Kenma just nods.

"He's been keeping watch most of the morning so far. He hasn't had any sleep for probably a day already."

"Whoa, really?"

"Man, the broken crow sure is easily impressed." A deeper voice cuts in and Kageyama goes rigid at the appearance of another person he doesn't know.

The guy is quite a bit larger than Kenma, and with black ears that peek out of his hair, he's taller than himself and more broad in the shoulders. Kageyama is willing to bet this cat has him beat in both weight and strength. His shaggy black hair drops across golden eyes that settle on him with narrowed calculation.

"Oi. I don't remember anything about bringing the one with wings back, too." He growls at the smaller cat. Kenma stands calmly and meets his gaze in an oddly commanding way.

"They are… kind of a single item. It was neither or both, no other option." He says bluntly and Kageyama can tell that he is being careful not to let it slip. A quick glance at Hinata and Kageyama is sure he's still oblivious and he mentally sighs in relief.

Kuroo's gaze is sharper, however, and it flashes before leaping between himself and the redhead. The black cat brings a hand up to his neck and rolls his eyes, a long-suffering sigh escaping him.

"Whatever. But I _will_ kick them out if they piss me off." He mutters before walking over toward them.

"Kenma, want to toss for me some more?" Hinata says brightly and the cat glances at him with a touch of distaste before giving in with a nod. They move off to the open area they'd been in when Kageyama woke and he cocks a brow slightly.

"He's going to get tired of Hinata before the morning's out." He remarks more to himself than the larger cat beside him, so he's surprised when Kuroo responds.

"Nope." He says before settling next to him and unwrapping another leaf covered rabbit bundle. "Kenma just doesn't like being active." He says dismissively.

Kageyama watches the golden cat and grounded bird for a while as he eats his own side of hare, hyper aware of the imposing cat beside him. He's not sure if the blasted feline is intentionally trying to intimidate him, but he has to grudgingly admit that it's kind of working… a little.

"The stories are true, you know." He says lowly and Kageyama jolts just a touch before glancing at the black cat.

"Beg your pardon?" He says around the bite of rabbit in his mouth.

"Kenma didn't come right out and say it, but he can't lie. Mind explaining why he phrased it like that? It better not have involved some threat or other. Level pairs are rare but you wouldn't be the first we've met."

Kageyama almost chokes. He _had_ threatened that cat last night...

"H... Hinata doesn't know yet." He murmurs.

"Then I won't ask why you're keeping _that_ bit of knowledge from your _leveler_ of all people, but I will caution you. If one of you dies, so will the other."

Kageyama freezes, his breath catching in his lungs. His gaze snaps to Hinata and then he jumps when Kuroo scoffs under his breath at him.

"Don't be so obvious, idiot. Your shrimp is more sharp eyed than he seems and the blood just fled your face." He grumbles. Kageyama quickly looks back down to his rabbit at the rebuke; he's definitely not hungry at the moment.

"It's been over a decade." Kuroo says quietly and Kageyama peeks up at him. The black cat's gaze is distant and dispassionate, his eyes resting on his hands but not seeing them. "I don't know how different they are, but it's not just birds. We had a level pair in our clan and we were out on a deer hunt. She broke off to push the herd toward the rest of us like she always did. She was maybe a half mile away when we heard her shriek. He leveler took off so fast in his blind rush to get to her that we could barely keep up. But it didn't matter. We made it maybe halfway before he dropped with a heavy breath."

There's a dark frown that etches into the very foundations of his face, a very real pain that still surfaces at the memories.

"There was nothing wrong with him, no injury, no wound. He was in perfect condition… and he died where he fell. A crow sentry unit caught and skinned her; they never knew my brother died, too." He says, his voice rough.

 _Brother. No wonder this is hitting close to home._

"Your father's minions took out two cats that day and they never even had to touch one of them."

Kageyama sucks in a breath and Kuroo glances at him with a lethal gaze and he jars. He'd missed it before, but one of the black cat's orbs is cloudy.

"You think I wouldn't know who you are?"

There's a profound animosity in his golden eyes as they watch him unblinkingly, the blind one tracking him with unnerving accuracy. Kageyama feels himself holding his breath until the cat looks away. He silently lets it out with relief when Kuroo glances over toward the smaller two playing with the ball. But Kageyama can't help but ask.

"And that? Did my father do that, too?" He asks of the blind eye.

"Nah, this was a parting gift from a snake, but I shouldn't need to tell you that it isn't a hindrance. Honestly, you have Kenma's bleeding heart to thank. I intended to kill you that first night before he showed up. He developed an instant attachment to your shrimp and wouldn't let me. We know how your father deals with broken birds. He asked me to keep an eye out and let him know when that kid got barred from the rookery. Except… that's not what happened." He murmurs, glancing sidelong at Kageyama.

"That match was an excellent distraction; I've never had an easier time getting into that hellhole… but your race to leave it trapped me there until dark. I barely got a signal out to Kenma to tell him which way you were headed before I had to cram myself into a god-forsaken tiny box for a few hours." He says a bit annoyed, a hand straying to his neck again.

All Kageyama can process from that bit is that a _cat_ managed to infiltrate the rookery… apparently more than once. But Kuroo continues absently.

"Your own actions confused both of us and I wasn't able to wrap my head around what was going on. But you guys being a level pair… it makes sense." Kuroo's gaze slides back to the golden cat and lively redhead.

"If you care about him, keep him close. But I will warn you once. Kenma's affinity for broken things is a hassle, but he is all I have left of a world long since destroyed by your father's little empire. If I find even the barest hint of ill will toward either of us, I don't care how much Kenma's taken to your shrimp, I'll kill you both; levelers or not."

Kageyama feels like the wind has been knocked out of him as the cat lays the threat between them. He's always heard stories about a cat's ruthlessness though he's never seen one alive himself. Kuroo's words are cold and forceful and he doesn't doubt a single one of them. It keeps making his heart rate skitter unsteadily.

"I will keep that in mind." He says with a brittleness that betrays his unease.

"Then we're good."

Kuroo's expression smooths into boredom and he resumes his breakfast as if promising death to someone he'd just met we completely normal. Kageyama looks down at his own unfinished rabbit with a frown. Maybe, since this guy knew another level pair...

"Hey..." He asks quietly. "Do you think his wings will grow back?"

The larger cat's head tilts.

"That's it isn't it? Why you haven't told him?" He says, his golden eyes sliding his way for a moment. He half shrugs before Kageyama can speak, though, and breaks eye contact as if his answer wouldn't be interesting anyway. "Not sure. I know levelers have the capacity to heal each other, but my knowledge is restricted to a feline level pair and neither my brother nor his leveler ever lost whole _limbs_."

Kageyama nods hollowly, his insides feeling like they might be his outsides after this whole interaction— or at the very least, had a wire brush taken to them. A feather drops from one of his wings and Kuroo catches it up with curiosity. He spins it between his fingers absently, studying it carefully before he glances over at Kageyama, setting his hair on end once more.

"You guys have some kind of fight?" He asks nonchalantly and Kageyama blanches.

"What makes you say that?" He asks and he means for it to come out condescending but the best he manages is defensive.

Kuroo hands the feather to him and he gets a good look at it. The shaft is half frazzled, the soft down near the base and fine vane fibers that run its length scraggled and curled as if hit by high heat. The shaft is crisped as if it had burned from the inside out. He blinks and then looks at the rest of the feathers on his wings. And he can't keep his shock off his face. It's not just the long flight feathers here and there that look like the one in his hand, the covert featherbeds also look scruffy and disheveled.

"My brother's fur used to curl a lot like that when they fought." He murmurs and looks away. "Relax. If your shrimp asks, you've just been unusually stressed from the last couple days and are going through a molt. It's one moment where him _not_ having wings will work in your favor to keep him in the dark since they would likely be ragged right now, too." He says dismissively before his gaze grows slightly thoughtful.

"Although… it would probably be best if you try to limit any confrontation if you really want it to stay that way. He's rather oblivious, but he's definitely not stupid. Oh, and you better clean up the feathers you shed, because if _I_ have to, you will be sleeping outside."

Kageyama's face flushes with embarrassment, but a movement from his peripheral makes him flinch. Kuroo's reaction is more sound and the cat raises a hand to deflect the incoming ball.

"Ah, sorry!" Hinata yelps.

Before the redhead can protest, Kenma's collected the ball and dropping beside them once more. Hinata complains and wants to keep going but the gold cat doesn't budge.

"So, are ground rules down?" He asks Kuroo instead.

"He's got the gist."

"Eh? What rules?" Hinata asks.

"You can stay with us if you want, but you have to do things our way." Kenma says.

For the first time in the gold cat's presence, Hinata dims.

"Oh… we probably won't be staying."

Kenma and Kuroo both glance at him and for the life of him, Kageyama can't figure out _why_ , and he blinks at the unexpected attention while trying not to be distracted by the disquieting half-cloudy gaze of the black cat.

"We already had a destination in mind… and you've already helped us more than we can repay. We will leave as soon as we can so we don't cause you more trouble." He mumbles.

Kenma's head tilts and Kuroo frowns.

"I wouldn't exactly recommend just waltzing out through the forests right now. The bulk of the commotion is still where you went down last night further north, but all your dad's sentries are out in force at the moment and the trees are honestly crawling with them. Where are you thinking?"

Kageyama's brow furrows, not really willing to give up that information.

"East… and then south." He says haltingly.

"Well at least it's _away_ from the rookery and the origin of all evil." Kuroo mutters and looks up at the ceiling, a hand going back to his neck. He rolls his head against his palm and Kageyama can tell he's thinking.

"You are probably stuck here for a while unless you choose to travel at night."

"We can't see in the dark." Kageyama says, the memory of blindly fumbling along behind Hinata just hours ago still unsettling.

"We can." Kenma says, drawing everyone's attention and Kageyama feels his spine straighten. "We can go with them and lead them at night, Kuroo."

The black cat frowns and turns a skeptical glance on the gold one.

"Have you swallowed a hairball? We aren't going to be guide dogs, you moron." He says, unimpressed, but Kenma shakes his head.

"It might be a good idea anyway with how thick the crows are right now. They can't catch _us_ if we aren't here either."

Kuroo levels him with an irritated look. "How do you always logically justify a horrible plan?"

"If I didn't, we'd be screwed." The gold cat says simply and Kuroo scoffs.

"Fine."

"Ah, really? Wow, that would be awesome! Can we Kageyama?" Hinata asks, all the exuberance back in his voice. Kageyama has to wonder if he literally just held his breath while the other two came to their conclusion.

The two cats turn to look at him expectantly and he wants to shrink back. He wants to tell them no, because somewhere in his head, he'd pictured this journey always being just the redhead and himself. He can't stand that they know Hinata is his leveler and feels like it's just inviting the chance that _more_ people find out. And for feathers' sake, they're _cats_. Centuries of stories about their vicious brutality can't be brushed aside after one night of interacting with this pair that helped them. Besides, the larger one is definitely hostile. The idea of traveling with these two makes him ridiculously uncomfortable and his skin prickles. In truth, the thought is more than disconcerting.

But... Shouyou has that bright smile again. That smile that he saw every day before he'd lost his wings. That smile that embodied sunshine and happiness.

And Kageyama can't say no.

He lets out a groan and brings a hand to his head, his brow crinkling with dark annoyance.

"Alright."

Shouyou's joyful whoop as he leaps into the air eases Kageyama's nerves.

And in that moment he realizes that he's doomed. He's been caving to the redhead for years but for the first time, he's consciously aware that he'll do anything for Hinata if he only asks.

Even more surprising for the larger crow… is that the realization doesn't bother him at all.

A/N: OK! So this chapter pretty much rounds out the main story line; everything from here on out is basically epilogue. I sincerely enjoyed writing this chapter and the last one, and they were some of the first parts of Level Pair that I finished (contrast that to the two right before that which I finished almost last and hated). It's retained pretty much all of its original context with almost no rewrite. I really like the relationship dynamic between Kageyama and Hinata, but I love Kuroo and Kenma. They weren't going to escape this story, lol.

I've actually had questions about Natsu... I never really had plans for her beyond the footnote she got since the story was more about Kageyama and Hinata, and I don't have her appear in this piece, but after chatting with one of my wonderful readers, I have a blip in my head that might make it in as a post chapter eventually.  
Hope everyone enjoyed... off to work on that stubborn chapter that I STILL haven't finished. I procrastinated yesterday and finally started working on it when I should have gone to bed, was falling asleep through it and it's hilarious to read now because it makes no sense. So. Off to fix that mess, lol.


	23. Restless 1-1

**Level Pair; Restless 1/1**

Restlessness is discontent—and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man—and I will show you a failure. ~Thomas Edison

 **Kageyama** grabs a skin with water as he takes a break away from the makeshift net they've set up on the sand. Dropping down on a driftwood log, he lets out a long breath in content.

In a matter of ten short days, Hinata had been grounded, Kageyama'd discovered the redhead was his leveler, they'd trekked back to a hostile home and narrowly escaped 'death by Kuroo', their unit had been dissolved, he'd lost a Volley match against his father, Hinata'd faced banishment from said home, he'd fled what couldn't be called home anymore with Shouyou, and they'd been saved by Kuroo and Kenma instead of offed. In ten days, their entire lives had been altered so far from what they had been, that he could hardly draw any similarities between them.

It's been six months. Six months of difficult trials and challenges. Six months of frustration and aggravated tension. Six months of figuring out their new and totally unstructured lives. Six months of awkward limbo. And Kageyama doesn't regret it in the least.

They've both changed a bit, Kageyama thinks as he watches the redhead happily pop the ball back and forth with the others in the chill morning ocean breeze that blows in lightly off the water. The seasons are changing, the nights growing longer and the days cooler. Just this morning, Hinata had been completely glued to his side for warmth… not that he minded. And just like time initiates a turn of seasons in the world around them, he can tell they are changing, too. He's definitely more aware of the differences in Shouyou, but he knows he's also weathered his own.

But where most of his are probably more internal, a lot of Hinata's are visible. He's definitely gotten tan from all the time spent in the sun on the sandy beach playing Volley. There are a few newer scars that glow white against the bronze of his skin now, particularly a long line across one calf and a silvery one on his shoulder. And his feather base has healed over completely and is now nothing more than a thick twisted scar, as well. Their hair has also gotten longer— definitely too long for his father's militant standards, but it's become one of Kageyama's favorite things about Hinata.

There are more subtle things that most people wouldn't realize... like how all of Hinata's muscles seem more defined without the aid of his wings in movement to smooth them out, and the bottoms of his feet are tougher than they used to be. He moves now as if he'd never had wings, no hesitation in his leaps or when he swings at the ball. He's gotten good at hitting it square now almost every time, the ball snapping off his palm like lightning.

Ground Volley had actually proved to be quite a bit harder than what they'd played back home. Kageyama had definitely struggled at not using his wings at first. They were such an integral part of him that he never even thought about them; they just moved on their own. And since Ground Volley was played on a smaller field, it was also much faster. Being able to play without using one's wings was a necessity in order to keep up. Hinata's attacking limb was considerably smaller than a wing, and it required far more precision to set the ball in the correct spot.

Hinata had excelled with his sharp reflexes and constantly made progress while Kageyama felt like he'd had to earn every bit he'd gained. He'd mastered it just the same, but damn, had it been taxing… both physically and mentally. It had been a sobering reminder that while he'd faced the 'flightless' challenge only in Volley, Hinata was facing it in nearly every facet of life.

The redhead had settled into it, though, and for the most part you wouldn't see the lack of wings bother him… but there were moments. Usually it was a nightmare and he'd wake from a dead sleep against Kageyama in a frenzy before at least one other hand would find him through the dark for support in addition to what comfort he himself could provide. But sometimes it would be something completely random and without warning. Maybe it was an object he couldn't reach without help where he'd have had no issue before, or perhaps it was one of the tart berries that Noya's mom could turn into amazing desserts. It could be something minor and momentary or something that could depress him for a whole day.

Just last week, he'd chased a ball out into the waves and gone still when he'd straightened up. Kageyama had almost immediately noticed the change and started toward him, but it hadn't mattered. By the time he'd reached him, a tear had already found its way down his face as he'd stared out over the water with a lost longing gaze. Kageyama hadn't been able to initially determine what had done it and Hinata'd shrugged it off and come back to play, but he'd been more pale the whole afternoon. They'd been settling in for the night when Hinata'd finally told him… and it had been nothing more than a strong breeze striking his face and tossing his hair. Something as simple as the sensation of wind across his skin had been enough to trigger a bout of soul fracturing sorrow.

It made Kageyama's occasional starts in the morning seem paltry at best, but Hinata had never once viewed them as insignificant. Kageyama couldn't decide whether to feel grateful for that or ashamed. Kuroo and the others had told him to just let it be, that the shrimp was probably happy to provide _him_ comfort for a change in those rare moments.

And through it all, Hinata had never spoken about the attack, not even once. The only details Kageyama had were those few half-complete and inherently broken thoughts uttered when they'd first spoken after it happened. Hinata would sometimes tell him about what he was feeling or about something he missed that would spur a bout of apathy… but he never said anything about that day.

Kageyama had wondered about it— quite frequently, if he was honest— but he had assumed it was because it had been something far worse than a nightmare, and that Hinata had no desire to relive it. So Kageyama had never pushed. It didn't stop him from wishing he _knew_ , but he took solace in the fact that he was confident that Hinata had never confided it to any of the others either. He didn't really speak to any of them about _any_ of it, actually. Just Kageyama. And he was somehow satisfied with that, even if he sometimes hated the easy relationships he'd built with the others.

 _Heh. Others._

He watches everyone bouncing the ball back and forth over the net and wonders how they'd gained so many additions since it's no longer just him and Hinata and the two felines.

They'd picked up another stray on their trek to the coast, a long and lanky grey cat named Lev who was even taller than Kuroo. He'd initially proven to be as uncoordinated as he looked, and was remarkably childish. It hadn't taken long before he and Hinata got into bickering matches about who could defeat the other in their Ground Volley games. So far, Kageyama was sure the short redhead had the edge simply because Lev was still learning the game. But the cat had been an easygoing addition who hadn't been remotely fazed or even interested to learn that they were a level pair, which somehow made him alright in Kageyama's head.

And so they were five.

They'd come across Tsukishima and Yamaguchi after a storm had rolled in and blown the two into their path. A pale ibis and a crow, they were as odd a pair as Suga and Daichi had been. Yamaguchi had ended up with, of all things, a sprained wing, and since he and Hinata had significant knowledge on that, they had stopped a day or so to help. It had ended up with the pair tagging along, much to Kageyama's _severe_ irritation.

Hinata had remarked on his dour moods as being the result of no longer being the only winged individual in the group, but he couldn't have been more off. Yamaguchi was fine, but Tsukishima… that sullen sack of feathers totally rubbed him wrong and out here, his name didn't carry weight like it had back at the rookery. Not that Kageyama wanted his name broadcasted around them and have his father's sentries come running, but without any of that pull, the jerk's primary target had somehow ended up being him. The ibis was frequently moody and hostile and perhaps most aggravating of all— actually not that unlike himself. He was better at throwing insults and jabs and much quicker with a snarky comeback, but Kageyama couldn't help but see a little of himself in the other angry avian even if it stemmed from different reasons. And that, he couldn't stand.

The only one who could really make him mind was Kuroo when the cat got tired of his crap. The fact that these two birds both also ended up finding out he and Hinata were a level pair just drove him to want to pull out his own feathers in fury. It had come to a head about a week in when Tsukishima made one comment a little too close to home on that particular subject within direct earshot of Hinata even as Yamaguchi asked him not to.

Kuroo had already been moving before he'd even turned on the other bird himself, but they'd all come to a pause when Hinata had popped up out of nowhere in front of the taller blond avian. The ibis had backed up a step and Kageyama had held his breath uncertainly, feeling his world precariously balancing on the next few moments.

"If you have some type of issue, nothing is stopping you from going somewhere else. Everything was easy before you joined us, so if you can't figure out how to get along, you are welcome to get lost." He'd said bluntly, his voice actually unnerving with its weight. Kageyama had rarely heard that tone in the centuries since they'd met, but it was a pretty good indication that Hinata was pissed and all patience and civility was pretty much gone. It had a peculiar 'loose cannon' feel to it that definitely made everyone sit up and take notice… even the arrogant asshole ibis.

And that had been the end of it. Tsukishima still made regular cheeky comments and retorts and Yamaguchi still meekly chastised him for it, but the pale haired bird didn't bring up the level pair issue again. He still irked Kageyama day in and day out, but if Hinata didn't care, he'd resolved not to as well.

And so they were— grudgingly— seven.

He wasn't quite sure how they'd picked up the two females. He'd have thought that traveling with a bunch of guys would make them uneasy, but Kiyoko and Yachi had approached them for the safety numbers offered in one of the little coastal towns they'd stumbled across. Kiyoko, a crow like himself, had kept careful and steady watch over the nervous little bunting that was Yachi. It had taken a couple days for them to really integrate into their all male group, but Kiyoko's easy composure and control quickly melded them into a more organized unit while Yachi, desperate to be helpful, proved to be an extraordinary cook.

And so they were nine.

They'd found Sheru Bay just like Suga had said it would be. The cats had scoped out a suitable living place for their group that had more than doubled in number over the course of a few weeks, conveniently located on the beach a half a league out of town next to a pretty little stream. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had even procured a bit of used netting from a fishing shop in a rare contributing gesture and though Kageyama wasn't sure where they'd found them, Yachi and Kiyoko had come back with a couple more balls one day for Volley.

They'd been there perhaps a couple weeks when they met their first _real_ brush with trouble when they attracted the attention of a pair of owls. They'd landed on the beach on a hot day when only Hinata and Kenma were outside and the redhead's piercing cry had alerted the rest of them that something wasn't right. Kageyama had almost tackled a disoriented Lev still waking from a nap on his way out the door, Kuroo hot on his heels. Tsukishima had sworn at him when he'd nearly clipped him, too, but he couldn't have cared less. Hinata hadn't screeched a warning sound like that since the days after he'd been attacked and the black cat must have felt the urgency, too, because Kageyama could hear him right over his shoulder.

He'd felt nothing but anxious tension when he'd gotten his first look at them. The extra feathers that decorated their faces and necks was a dead giveaway for what they were and it only spurred him faster. The larger of the two owls with streaks through his hair had been crowding in close to the defensive cat and grounded bird with bright interest while the other held back with a bored look.

"Akaashi, this kid is missing his wings. And he's with a cat… hey Akaashi, do you suppose the cat ate them?"

Kageyama had never even realized the distance between the door and Hinata had disappeared. He'd blasted into the sand between them, the grains flying from the impact. His arm had splayed across their two smallest male members of their group and his wings sprawled wide with threat while a full bodied hiss rumbled out of his gut. The other owl had reacted almost instantly, grabbing the taller one and hauling him backward several feet.

"Bokuto! I told you we should have just gone home!" He'd muttered. "Shit." His eyes had gone wide, and Kageyama had known everyone was emerging from their dwelling.

"Akaashi, let go! They were playing Volley, just not in the…" The taller one had trailed away before taking another step back without needing any encouragement. "Stars, there's a lot of 'em." He'd said, clearly dumbfounded.

" _You_ instigated this, you moron." The other had griped at him, still pulling at him.

"Wow, check out _that_ one! That's one tall cat."

The shorter one, Akaashi, had latched onto his collar— though as far as that went, he was still dang tall.

"Yeah, well the black one ain't small either and neither are some of the birds. Let's go." He'd said, tugging at him once more. Bokuto had shrugged him off.

"No, they were playing Volley." He'd emphasized as if that made perfect sense.

The two continued to argue in front of them like fledglings and Kageyama was ready to advance with malice when Hinata grabbed his arm and gently but firmly pushed it away. He'd paused with a sharp intake.

"Hinata?"

The redhead had ignored him and instead picked up a ball and slipped around him. The owls had paused and turned to stare at him as he stepped into the gap between them. Kageyama couldn't help the way he'd itched to grab him and drag him back to the safety of their support. Hinata's head had tipped a bit to the side and then he'd held out the ball.

"Did you want to play?" He'd asked.

In the following days, Kageyama had searched his memory for a time where he'd been _that_ completely and utterly speechless and had come up nil. Owls weren't friends with any other species, cats included. Everyone around them except the redhead had seemed to be having the same reaction… even the owl, Akaashi. But the surprise on Bokuto's face had morphed into a grin.

"Let's go!" He'd cheered.

Kageyama had barely been able wrap his head around it. This stupid owl had completely missed the homicidal mood a few moments ago— and was totally stoked and missing it still.

"Kageyama, can you toss for me?" Hinata had said, turning to him with one of his winning smiles, and Kageyama opened and closed his mouth.

He was torn between barking at him for showing his back to the owl and being mortified at having been asked because he knew he would cave regardless.

"You do know that's an owl, right idiot?" He'd asked heavily, resigned to his fate.

"Of course."

 _Oi. Freaking shrimp. He could make friends with a fencepost, I swear… or an irate sleep-deprived bear._ Either one of those examples could probably have applied at that moment with how the one seemed dense enough to have _been_ a fencepost and they were both probably as dangerous as bears.

"Fine, but they play by our rules." He'd grumbled.

"Eh? What rules?" Bokuto had asked. Hinata turned back to him with a grin.

"Ground Volley rules. You aren't allowed to fly; it's quite a bit tougher. You still want to play?" He'd asked with a devious glint.

"Hah. Bring it on!"

It had been tense, but they'd played with the owls through the heat. The shorter owl had somehow reminded him of Daichi, except perhaps a bit more serious and less confident, and Bokuto had been like some skewed meld of Noya and Tanaka. It had been both unsettling and nostalgic all at once. Akaashi and Bokuto had left at the end of the day and there had been talk of changing location because they were _owls_ and dangerous and they were now aware that they were there… but they'd opted to decide in the morning. And the owls had been back by then, Akaashi apologizing with minor embarrassment and Bokuto demanding to play again.

And so they became eleven.

His and Hinata's flight from the rookery is common knowledge among their odd little group. Kageyama is positive that Akaashi and Bokuto also know about his and Hinata's level pair situation by this point— if nothing else, Tsukishima would have told them by now just to ruffle his feathers. They've all reached a level of comfort where they have no issue forming large sleep piles, and even the owls sometimes wind up in the mix… but Hinata is always curled up with him and glowing away, so he's confident everyone is totally aware of it. It annoys him that he had initially wanted _no one_ to know, and now _everyone_ they interact with on a daily basis does, but it doesn't terrify him like it used to. The openness between them all is actually quite freeing. He's pretty sure Hinata's ignorance is the only secret among them.

He huffs slightly in amusement. Those sleep piles are something that had become much more frequent as summer drew to a close and fall began its herald of winter. He can't deny that having the warmth of a cat against his back or feeling the brush of feathers in the early morning is nice. He's never had something like this before, and he's not sorry for the way things have turned out.

Still… he's anxious.

He watches the waves with an inward expression. Across this vast expanse of water lies their wintering grounds on the large patch of mainland a good couple day's solid flight. Every year they would make the trip north to their Karasuno Rookery in the spring and every year they would return in the fall for winter's few short months. It was a flight that demanded all their skills in flying.

It required them to utilize updrafts to stay airborne so they didn't expend too much energy. It required them to milk every bit of distance out of each stroke of their wings and maximize the effect of every glide. Hours at a time over a body of water where there was no stopping demanded calculated strategy and energy conservation.

It was a flight that was treacherous even with the stopover point on a small island just over halfway. The very old and those who'd been born too late in the year and weren't conditioned well enough yet as fledglings were always the most at risk. It seemed to Kageyama, that they lost a few more on the trip each year as their numbers had swelled.

And yet, his whole mind had soared with exhilaration at the thought of migration each year. For all its perils, the trip was a blast. He'd flown with his sentry unit for the last several centuries and they'd always come through without issue. He enjoyed the drift of the windbreak line, the extra effort he had to put in when he led the cut into a direct headwind before passing it off to the next person. He got an adrenaline kick out of correcting cleanly when they ran full bore into a warm patch or a bout of wind shear. He loved the discipline and single minded focus of keeping his wings beating in a constant rhythm for hours. He loved how everything else left his mind and it merely became him and everyone else around him just flying. It was a flight that filled him to the brim each year with anticipation.

And it was a flight they wouldn't be making this time.

Shouyou still has no wings. Their only other option is to charter a boat of some type; something none of them— especially the cats— are too keen on. So they will stay and weather the elements… but Kageyama hates it all the same. The rest of the rookery will be preparing to leave right about now before the snows set in in the north and Kageyama can't help but feel antsy.

And he misses the others.

He misses Daichi's calm control and Suga's easy companionship… all the more in light of having learned they were levelers. He has a number questions about the level pair situation he would really like to ask them. He misses Noya and Tanaka and all their boisterously loud energy. Hell, he'd even take the pranks right now. And he even misses Asahi's insecurities and complete surprise when he totally nails something. Really, it was like the crow was always flabbergasted that he could be _good_ at something.

They haven't shown up yet in Sheru Bay so he has to surmise that things must still be pretty hectic back at Karasuno Rookery. He won't lie… he's thought about them pretty much every day and hopes they are all doing alright. He might even be up for a round in the race pits if he got a chance to see them all again. Kageyama lets out a light sigh.

He never really imagined he'd have grown so attached; he'd detested them all back at the very beginning, and he'd later taken those relationships for granted, never pausing to consider them and what it would be like to _not_ have them. He feels selfish but he wishes he could see them now when they are pushing up against migration day.

He has a new and wonderfully fascinating and diverse family and he has nothing against them, but he can't help but also wish for the old as well.

A/N: So... the start of the end, you guys! This chapter begins my epilogue; wasn't quite my favorite but was one of the easiest ones to write. It's a very passive chapter with very little actually happening story-wise and I apologize, but I needed to set the stage for the next six chapters. or is it seven? Seven. I'm still working on two of them and hope that they will be ready in time; inspiration has been good today so it looks promising. Thanks to everyone for sticking with Level Pair this far, your support has been more than I ever expected.

Oh. Guys… GUYS. I played volleyball last night at open gym with a couple friends for the first time in the better part of a decade. I played 5 sets to 25. I now have 6 bruises on my palms and 4 more on my knees (b/c Nyx is an idiot and forgets kneepads and dives for balls anyway). My back, shoulders, and butt are sore, my legs were shot climbing the stairs into work this morning. My SO left at 430AM to catch a flight and I pretty much fell out of bed when I went to say goodbye. If you want a good indication of how out of shape I really am: I have bruises on the _balls of my feet_ —and that was through shoes. I hurt all over.

But I played AWESOME. I can still snap a ball off a quick, I can still out jump most people out there, I can still block. The weird part? I was 95% on serves. (0.o) And receives. (wut) And even the sets I tried actually placed where they were supposed to… wtf, I have NEVER been able to set. The best part? One of the regulars comes up to me at the end and asks if he can poach me as a sub for one of the weeknight leagues. Guys. I CAN STILL PLAY. WELL ENOUGH TO BE RECRUITED ONTO A REGULAR TEAM. I AM SO JACKED. Ok, freakout accomplished. Have a great night ya'll! :)


	24. Reunion 1-1

**Level Pair; Reunion 1/1**

Walking with friends in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. ~Helen Keller

 **It's perhaps** a week later when Kageyama is setting for Shouyou and Kuroo, while Bokuto and Akaashi block from the other side. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are helping Yachi and Kiyoko prepare lunch— because feeding eleven people actually _is_ a task— and Lev and Kenma are crashed out in the sand under the shade of a beach palm.

Shouyou knows Kageyama is going stir crazy even if he doesn't say anything. He's gotten more quiet, his gaze straying more frequently to the ocean with a look that goes deeper than his typical scowls. Shouyou knows the feeling.

They should be migrating about now… and he's well aware that none of the avians intend to do so, Kageyama most of all. Yamaguchi had been the one to rather absentmindedly bring it up. Shouyou had felt awful in that awkward silence that had followed, because he'd felt like such a burden. Kageyama had been swift on his recovery though. He'd formally announced in a tone that was nothing but final that 'He didn't care what the others did; he would be staying with Hinata and the cats.'

There had been no more talk of migrations much after that and Shouyou was left to conclude that the others had come to a mutual agreement to stay as well. And it had somehow made him feel _more_ guilty… as if they were all staying because of him. They were all planning to weather the chill and fast of winter on his behalf. He'd been dispirited for close to a week before Tsukishima of all people had cornered him out of a bath one night.

"You're making everyone restless, you know." He'd said with a scoff. Shouyou had deflated almost instantly.

"Sorry." He'd murmured only to jump when Tsukishima's palm had smacked the wall beside his head, the ibis leaning into his personal space.

"Don't be _sorry_. Fix it." He'd growled into his face before backing off a bit. "It's not just because of you, moron. It's probably more that we all just want to stay together."

Shouyou had looked up at him wide eyed as the blond had crossed his arms, somehow grudgingly awed that the other avian knew exactly why he was bummed out.

"It's because of your asinine crow champion and his decree that he was staying to chaperone you that it even became a point of contention. None of us ever intended to split in the first place."

After Shouyou had gotten over his shock, he'd wanted to sullenly point out that it had actually been Yamaguchi who'd brought it up to begin with, but he'd bitten his tongue on that.

"Ano... how? Do I fix it, I mean." He'd mumbled and Tsukishima had reached forward and in the most unusual gesture of fondness, flicked him on the forehead.

"Stop worrying. You never have, so don't start now. You have Yachi all jumpy and Kiyoko is fretting over her, Bokuto has been off his game and depressed which makes Akaashi salty, and for being a freaking cat, Kuroo damn well _barked_ at Lev last night after Kenma shrugged off an invitation to nap with one of his apathetic introverted frowns. Your personality is insultingly bright and everyone rallies around you. Take that away and everything dissolves into a dynamic mess— and I'm not a good maid." He'd grumbled darkly.

Shouyou had stared at him for a few long seconds as the image manifested in his head before a snort had escaped him.

"You, a _maid_?"

And when the ibis had rolled his eyes with a scoff, everything had somehow been alright.

But it hadn't made it any easier to watch as Kageyama sunk into his melancholy brooding more and more, or the way he'd take anxious flights up and down the open stretches of sand. He'd always loved migrations, Shouyou knew. The redhead himself hadn't enjoyed them as much, but that was probably because, unlike Kageyama who got off on the sheer challenge the trips presented, Shouyou found just flying for hours on end until you were ready to drop from exhaustion boring. Frankly, he half expected to wind up a casualty himself every year because of his inability to keep himself focused and attentive.

But Kageyama's silent twitchiness and pensive sulking sets him on edge and he's done his damnedest to always try to distract him. Usually, that means Ground Volley like they are doing now. Even so, Kageyama's focus is here on the ball and on him, but it's still not quite as intense as normal.

Yachi walks outside for a brief moment to fill a skin with water and apart from a momentary acknowledgement at her appearance, no one notices. But the reaction is instantaneous when she promptly shrieks a couple minutes later.

Everyone jars. Shouyou tenses mid-jump and Kageyama's shoulders hunch. Kuroo stumbles and both owls on the other side of the net flinch. Lev and Kenma bolt upright, sleep scattering in an instant. As one, everyone turns towards the bunting as she zips back toward them with terror on her face. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi come flying out followed closely by Kiyoko as Yachi lands in the sand by the net, her little body gasping.

"S… Sentries!" She manages and points behind her to the east as the other female wraps her in an anxious embrace.

Everyone goes rigid.

It has been over six months since they left and Hinata feels his gut twist, because his first thought is that the Grand King has finally caught up with them and he is going to lose Kageyama. They will come and take Kageyama back by force… or Kageyama might even leave with them of his own free will. Hinata wants to believe the only reason he'd do that is to keep them all safe from any confrontation, but he can't help the anxious dread at the nagging thought that Kageyama might actually _want_ to go back… that he regrets having ever left. A quick glance toward the other boy reveals a face set into a focused scowl as he follows Yachi's pointing finger. His expression isn't much different from normal so that's a good thing, right?

Everyone rises collectively as one as they pick out the dark shapes in the distance. Yachi is right, they are definitely crows… and that many at once, it's a good bet they are part of a sentry unit. Everyone draws together and Shouyou moves to Kageyama's side, a hand finding his tensing wing and clasping around a few flight feathers without his conscious permission.

"We have them beat in numbers if it comes down to a fight." Bokuto murmurs and for a moment Shouyou wonders if Kageyama is surprised.

Who'd have ever thought an _owl_ would declare his will to fight on behalf of a _crow_? It demonstrates just how well the two have integrated into their lives.

"If you can get them on the ground, we can do a lot more." Kuroo concurs and Shouyou mentally withholds a wry grin.

 _Cats too._

Still, he takes mental stock of their physical arsenal out of habit born of centuries in the Grand King's military. They have seven functioning avians: The owls, Tsukishimia, Yamaguchi, Kiyoko, Yachi and of course, Kageyama. Kageyama might be reserved, but he is potentially lethal if he needs to be. He knows the owls can be dangerous just because of their power and capability in their games and their very nature as owls will be a deterrent in itself. Tsukishima has a cold look on his face that promises death so it's probably safe to bet that he could be a solid obstacle, too. Yamaguchi is more diminutive and perhaps not as keen on confrontation, but his wing is long healed and he's displayed moments of unusual spine before. Lev and Kuroo are both powerful in their own right and the black cat has always had a dangerous homicidal potential to him. Shouyou might be grounded, but he still has all his combat training so he's probably able to rally like the cats if he has to. Really, their weakest points might be Kenma— but Hinata has never seen him fight so he could be way off— and the girls… though he has a hunch Kiyoko might be a lot more impressive in a pinch than anyone would take her for.

His mental tabulation is interrupted when one of the figures on the horizon catches his focus and he strains his eyes. He sucks in a breath and latches onto Kageyama's shirt drawing his immediate attention. His eyes hone in on the sentries, an odd light building in them, all of his limbs nearly buzzing.

"Shouyou?" Kageyama asks and he pushes aside the distraction of the way his name rolls off his tongue.

"How many do you see, Kageyama?" He asks softly. Kageyama blinks and looks back at the approaching group.

"Five crows." He says after a moment. Shouyou shakes his head.

"Four." He rebuttals.

"Eh?" Kageyama frowns, clearly wondering if Shouyou is messing with him.

"One isn't a crow." Shouyou says before a blinding smile erupts on his face and he takes off full tilt down the beach.

"Oi, Hinata!" Kageyama barks, taking off after him, but he's definitely gotten faster. "Stop, dumbass!"

But Shouyou pays no attention and keeps barreling down the beach. He can hear more than one set of wings behind him and knows Kageyama is following— and probably everyone else. He can hear the black haired crow closing in on him, but Shouyou's excitement overflows and he leaps in the air, his arms waving wildly.

"Noya!" He yells and Kageyama falters behind him.

One, two, three, four… and a pair of metallic wings to join the black. Kageyama should be able to see them by now. Shouyou laughs; he always did have better vision.

"Suga!" He bellows, his small feet flying. He hears Kageyama speak briefly with Bokuto and Kuroo, but he's totally focused on the closing figures that have taken on familiar shapes.

And then Kageyama pulls even with him, his wings propelling him along the sand with ridiculous grace, and for a moment it's just like old times when they'd get into one of their racing contests. Shouyou briefly locks eyes with Kageyama and there is a flash of that old glint of challenge in them and a grin tips his mouth. Shouyou side steps onto the water packed sand, the soggy grains more resistant under his pounding steps and his speed increases a little more. His feet break the half inch waves that circle up the wide expanse of flat shore with rhythmic splashes as he gets an edge, and returns the challenging grin before focusing back on the shapes in the sky.

Everyone can probably see them clearly now, too. All five of them. Shouyou wonders if his heart might burst at the sheer joy he feels, every muscle in him humming with shivering energy.

 _They made it._

They hit the ground around himself and Kageyama moments later, the sprawling waves and sand splashing out like an explosion. They are tackled into the surf, everyone ending up wet.

"You guys! You're here!" Shouyou screeches, unable to hold back his excitement.

It takes a few moments for all the reassuring touches and embraces to make the rounds and all of them are talking at once even if the only ones he can hear the are Noya and Tanaka.

"Whoa, your hair got long, Shouyou!"

"And you're tan!"

"You're both looking great."

"We weren't sure if we'd find you guys."

"Kageyama got taller again I think."

They all have something to say and Hinata wishes he could hear them all and commit everything to memory. Kageyama might have been adamant that everything would be fine, but there had been no guarantee that everything would turn out okay when they'd fled that launch platform and the rookery so long ago. He hadn't been sure he'd ever see them again and he blinks back the water that's collecting in his eyes.

He can tell he's not the only one struggling to keep his composure; Asahi and the loud twins are all half-weepy and even Daichi and Kageyama seem a little _too_ shiny eyed. Suga has the best of all of them, an easy smile on his face and a look of happy contentment.

 _This is their unit._

He climbs back to his feet only to pause when he notices nine pairs of eyes watching them dubiously. He waves to the beach crew encouragingly and of the Karasuno unit around them, it's Asahi that seems to notice them all first.

"Um… are those owls?" He asks incredulously and their unit turns to stare at their audience— his and Kageyama's companions of the last several months.

"Yep!" Shouyou confirms with a beaming smile.

"Kageyama...you kind of… smell like a cat." Daichi says with a confused frown. There's a moment where Shouyou wonders how Daichi knows what they smell like before Kageyama smirks.

"Do I?" He asks, and the redhead knows Lev had been sprawled out against them last night.

"That's normal. We do have _three_ of them now." Shouyou chatters happily and turns to lead them back to the waiting group.

Shouyou buoyantly goes through introductions— though he's talked about the unit often enough that really, the beach crew can probably just about figure out who's who without it… but their unit seems a bit overwhelmed. They aren't sure what to think of the cats let alone the owls, and Noya and Tanaka, in what must be a world ending event, are rendered speechless at seeing _girls_. It's Tsukishima who breaks the meet and greet when he lightly taps Yachi's shoulder.

"Don't we have food going?" He asks blandly and she pales.

"Ah! It's going to burn!" She squeals and Kiyoko takes her arm.

"It will be alright, we'll go back and take care of it."

"We can help!" Yamaguchi volunteers them. The group splits and there's a moment of silence before Suga turns with a serene smile.

"We are glad to find you alive and well. We didn't know what happened to you after you left."

"We didn't know what would happen to us at first either. We ran into Kenma and Kuroo off the bat… and probably wouldn't be here if we hadn't." Kageyama grudgingly admits.

"Damn straight." Kuroo grins.

"How is the rookery? Mom?" Hinata asks brightly and Noya throws an arm over his shoulder.

"She misses you, but she was always sure you were okay. Something about you being with Kageyama so it was fine. Says she can't wait to see you again." The short crow says with a broad smile.

"The Grand King was on fire after you left though." Tanaka breaks in, tossing an accusing look toward Kageyama. "The whole rookery was on eggshells for weeks and we even underwent interrogations."

"Interrogations? What did he do to you guys?" Shouyou asks uncertainly. Daichi shrugs.

"Asked the same questions for hours on end for several days. Threatened us… but never followed through because none of us knew anything."

"Eh!?"

Shouyou looks up at where Kageyama blinks incredulously at their unit leader.

"How did you pull that off? You guys were the ones that got us out." He asks but Daichi shakes his head.

"That was all Suga. We never even told Noya, Tanaka, and Asahi anything and I only knew that you were leaving that night, not where you were going or how you were going to escape."

"Yeah… I'm still sore about that." Tanaka grumbles. Kageyama stares at them dumbfounded and really, Shouyou's in the same boat. The black-haired crow swings his gaze to the thrush who watches them with an easy smile.

"Are you guys serious?" Kageyama asks, a frown creasing his face. Suga breaks out into a grin.

"The best performances are the ones that are real. They had no knowledge of it, so they had no chance to let even the tiniest detail slip. I doubt any of us would have broken under even the worst torture, but knowing _nothing_ at all is pretty hard to fake. It was obvious they had nothing to offer after only a day of questioning and the Grand King focused mostly on Daichi after that."

"He didn't beat the crap out of you or anything, did he?" Shouyou asks with a frown.

"No, he just asked me day in and day out if there was anything I knew. But… I had nothing beyond you leaving and he never questioned Suga like he did me."

"Then no one spotted you or missed you?" Kageyama asks the thrush.

"Nope." He replies with a grin.

"It was a calculated risk. We knew he'd focus more on me because I'd spoken with you not long before, so I couldn't be allowed any more information than I already had and I had to have an alibi for when you went missing. I left everything in Suga's hands. The plan to have Momma Yu assist was his as well as the choice of meeting point."

"None of us even knew where we were going until few days ago when we left." Asahi mumbles and Shouyou marvels at how the reserved crow almost sounds sullen.

"You mean you and Daichi kept it under wraps from them this _whole_ _time_?" Shouyou asks with disbelief. Noya scoffs.

"Well… not all of it. Just where he sent you guys. They finally told us everything about a month ago when the Grand King finally called off all searches. He told us about how you and Kageyama—"

Daichi clears his throat, cutting off the smaller crow and Shouyou looks up at him.

"We told them about how you got out and Noya was particularly peeved to find out that he could have asked his own mom at any point." He says with a wry smile. Disregarding the oddity of Daichi's interruption, Shouyou breaks into a grin at the memory.

"Ah! Noya, you wouldn't believe Mom's moves! She is totally badass." He says animatedly. He turns back to Noya and sees Suga right behind him with a smile on his face as well.

"You should have seen Kageyama. He took out four sentries himself, too." The thrush says easily, his hand dropping from Noya's shoulder. Shouyou has the distinct impression that he just missed some unspoken exchange. Kageyama scoffs.

"You are painting it like you were never involved." He grouses and Suga grins.

"I wasn't." The thrush laughs.

"It's good to see you guys. When we left, we didn't know if we'd even find you here." Asahi says in a quiet voice and it seems to sum up the depths of the fears and hopes carried by them all. Shouyou's eyes water once more against his will, but he grins all the same.

"Ah, enough about the rookery. What have you been doing all this time?" Daichi says and Shouyou turns to him with shining eyes.

They've had a _hell_ of a summer.

A/N: Ah. This chapter. Everyone finally together in one place. This one was difficult to get everyone in in a meaningful way. The more people I have, the harder it is to keep track of them and keep them from falling into the background of the rest of the chapter. :(

Fun fact... this one was originally written from Kageyama's POV, but the feel of it was more Hinata to me and I revised and expanded it to fit him instead. Not sure if I made the right choice, but Hinata doesn't have another POV chap from here on out. Hope it still measured up!


	25. Reproach 1-1

**Level Pair; Reproach 1/1**

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

 **They follow** the four that returned earlier in lazy fashion with Hinata babbling away with the occasional comment from Lev, Kuroo, or Bokuto.

Their Karasuno unit is largely quiet and wide-eyed, and Kageyama wonders what it must be like to have all... _this_ …thrown at them so abruptly. It's probably such a stark contrast to what they've been through the last six months that they have a hard time reconciling it. He imagines it's a lot to take in and he can see them reeling a little when they all get back to their house. The Karasuno avians stare up at it in mute wonder.

Multi-storied and old yet functional, it is large with enough rooms for people to break off on their own, but the only ones ever really used are the kitchen and the large front room for their sleep piles. Kageyama absently wonders if there is enough space for five more.

Yachi pops her head out, her face red and eyes glued to the ground.

"Ano… I'm not sure if we have quite enough for everyone." She says and Kageyama is pretty sure she's contemplating burying herself in the sand. Seriously, she looks like her entire year has been ruined. But Noya is quick on a rescue attempt.

"Eh, no, no, it's fine really! We ate well this morning so we will be fine until evening." He says and Tanaka is right there backing him up.

"Of course! If we need more for tonight we can always go into that little town and grab some!"

Yachi looks mildly uncomfortable with their loudly obnoxious reassurances… actually she looks as if she'd like nothing better than to disappear. Daichi's eye twitches before he steps forward.

"We will be fine without a meal. We showed up unannounced so the fault is ours." He says before turning to the overzealous two. "Since you offered, you can be the ones to go grab something in town for dinner while everyone chills for lunch."

"Eh!? We just got here!"

"And shouldn't we have a guide? We've never been here before."

Kageyama can't help the grimacing smile that pulls at his face. Asahi looks like he wants to say something for a moment before Kiyoko materializes beside Yachi, hoisting a tray of meat buns.

"I can take them." She says with a quiet authority as she slips around them to the open area just off the front step. Yachi looks up at her with awe and the Karasuno unit freeze.

"We can join you." Tsukishima says behind her, also carrying a pan with curry out for the meal. "First impressions aren't lending them any credit and it'd be a shame if one of them accosted you."

Kiyoko tosses a nonplussed glance over her shoulder. He can see Kuroo and Akaashi smirk and knows the beach crew are settling in to watch the sparks fly.

"I hear yours wasn't any better." She says offhandedly and the ibis stiffens at Lev's muffled snort. "Or" she continues, straightening up. "Are you saying I can't handle a couple idiot crows?"

Hinata barks a laugh and Bokuto is grinning like a moron while Kageyama stifles a huff of amusement at how neither Noya nor Tanaka take offense. Tsukishima scoffs at her before dropping his pan beside the meat buns.

"At least take Yamaguchi." The ibis mutters. Her head tilts and she taps a finger to her bottom lip.

"Alright."

"Eh? I heard my name." Yamaguchi comes out with a large bowl of steaming rice.

"You are going to get more food for tonight with Kiyoko and the two loud mouths." The ibis drawls.

"Me?"

"Yes you."

"Uh… now?" He looks like a deer caught off guard, Kageyama muses.

"Yes. Make sure they behave." Tsukishima mutters. Yamaguchi sets the rice down, his expression not at all reflecting the confidence in the ibis' voice.

"Are you s—"

"Alright then. Yachi, you have the food under control?" Kiyoko cuts him off.

"Ah! Yes! I will take care of it!" She chirps, still rooted to the front step.

"Then we are set." She says and looks at Tanaka and Noya who jolt and straighten. "Shall we go?" She asks, her expression nothing but straight detachment. They nod mutely, and she turns and walks a few meters away, the two Karasuno unit members drifting after her as if on leash.

"Yamaguchi." She says evenly without looking back and he jumps and scrambles after them. "We will be back in a bit, Yachi." She says and the four take off.

"Uh...that was Kiyoko?" Asahi asks meekly and Bokuto laughs.

"Quite something, aint she? She's also got a mean right hook." The streaked owls says and Akaashi snorts, unable to keep his humor under wraps.

"I take it he has experience." Suga says with a smile that glints up into his eyes.

"Actually… it was Kuroo that she punched. She only slapped Bokuto." Kenma murmurs and ducks away from the black cat's swing.

"It was an honest question that was taken completely wrong." He grouses and the ibis' brow cocks mockingly before he takes a seat beside the food.

"Tch. Your delivery of said question couldn't have been worse." He says disparagingly and Lev grins from where he's reaching for a meat bun.

"Blondy is right on that one. You asked if birds had a rumble button like cats and whether or not she had one. How else was she supposed to take that?" He says with a chuckle. Kageyama can't hide his grin either, because it _had_ been hilarious.

Hinata disappears inside for a moment before darting back out carrying a couple new shirts. Kageyama hadn't really noticed their wet ones with how excited they'd been on seeing their unit again, but is grateful when the redhead hands one to him. He freezes, though, as Hinata goes to pull his own shirt, and Kageyama has a moment to tense up before it's off.

His eyes quickly find the remaining Karasuno unit members and his heart stumbles. Thankfully, Asahi's attention is focused on one of the owls, but Daichi is staring at the oblivious Hinata, his eyes and mouth wide. His hand darts out to Suga and the thrush is almost instantly wearing the same expression. And then Hinata's pulling his dry shirt on and reaching for a bun.

But the other level pair is still staring and Kageyama throws the only thing in his hands at them to shake their shock— which happens to be the shirt Hinata handed him a second ago. It hits Daichi on the shoulder, jolting him and Kageyama throws him a mild glare when the larger crow meets his gaze. Shouyou turns and holds a bun out to him for a moment and Kageyama jerks slightly.

"Here Kag—" Hinata pauses before retracting it. "You haven't changed out of your shirt yet?"

 _I just threw it at Daichi._

"It's...a little warm out. I will be fine." He mutters self-consciously.

Hinata eyes him a long moment before shrugging and holding the bun back out to him. He takes it and the redhead goes back to his own. A mental wave of relief hits him and he finds the crow and thrush with a covert glance.

They are staring at him… and Asahi has noticed the visual connection and is blatantly wondering what's going on. And Kuroo is giving him that annoyingly amused look again while Kenma is intently focused on finding the perfect bun to go with his curry and rice. And Yachi is peeking up at them while trying to look like she's definitely _not_. And Bokuto is smothering a laugh while Akaashi smirks into his own food. The only ones who seem to have no inkling of the visual spar going on are Hinata, Lev, and, mercifully, Tsukishima.

"Hey, Kageyama!" Hinata says brightly turning back to him and he focuses back on the redhead, still on edge.

"Can you toss for me after lunch?"

"Eh…"

"You still play Volley?" Asahi cuts across him with surprise, intrigue creasing his face and the tension dissipates.

"We play Ground Volley!" Hinata says and the large crow tilts his head.

"Ground Volley?" He echoes.

"Yep!" Hinata says and launches into an explanation of the small differences and how much tougher it makes the game. Bokuto, Akaashi, and even Tsukishima easily join in since they also took the 'flightless' challenge and can relate well. Daichi, Suga, and Asahi all appear awed and Kageyama lets a small smile escape as he watches the small spiker's animated gestures. It really was the single greatest thing in restoring the redhead's former charismatic personality.

"It really sucked at first, though… your Shrimp is relentless." Bokuto complains.

"That's because you have no fine motor control." Tsukishima chides.

"You were still having your wings tied when we showed up, too, so don't even start, you beanpole."

"Eh, as far as that goes, even Kageyama still gets called out for it when he gets serious in a match." Lev comments with amusement and Kageyama wants to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, the rope penalty sucks." Akaashi agrees.

"Wait, what is the rope penalty?" Daichi asks, curious in spite of himself.

"If Hinata calls you out for moving with the aid of your wings, they get tied shut and you play the rest of the game like that." Yachi answers quietly and everyone turns to stare at her. Honestly, she's quiet enough that Kageyama could almost have forgotten she was there.

"What?" She asks, shrinking instantly. "I've never played but I pay attention." She squeaks as if she's apologizing.

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Hinata bursts out. "Do you want to learn?"

"Yeah, any of us could teach you!" Bokuto jumps in with enthusiasm.

"Except perhaps not you." Tsukishima murmurs.

"Eh, what's wrong with me?" Bokuto turns an irritated scowl on him. The ibis shrugs and stands.

"Several things, but I'd have to say the biggest would be that we don't need another moron with an over-inflated ego."

Yachi looks like she wants to sink into the ground and Bokuto's feathers are puffing in rife irritation.

"Oi, you—"

"You're right Tsukishima, that would be bad since we already have _more_ than one of those. Why don't we leave the teaching to someone lacking wings? A little less of the blind leading the blind might be the better way to go." Kuroo breaks in smoothly, his remark carrying a heavier note.

The ibis scoffs and walks off, everyone staring after him.

"Is that…is that normal?" Daichi asks uncertainly after a pause and Kageyama barks a dark chuckle.

"He's worse actually. He's actually going light today." He says peevishly.

"So it _hasn't_ been all sunshine and beaches since you left." Suga says with a laugh.

"Oh, it has… I've just wanted to drop-kick him on an hourly basis, is all." He mutters and Hinata stifles a snort.

"He's gotten on everyone's nerves but Kuroo can put him in line pretty quick." The redhead laughs.

Lunch passes with light banter before wingbeats signal the return of the other four and Kageyama is mildly relieved that Noya and Tanaka have both returned bereft of a facial handprint. Tsukishima would never have let them live that down.

"Ah, Noya, Tanaka! Want to learn Ground Volley?" Hinata asks and Kageyama marvels at his persistence. The concept is explained all over again and their first question is whether Kiyoko and Yachi will play. Kageyama wants to facepalm.

"Oi. Focus." Kageyama barks and the two turn to stare at him. "He wants you to learn so he can play with you." There must be something in his voice because the two look at each other and then back to Hinata without a fight. He hadn't intended to bring out such a weighted tone, but what he says is true and it gets results.

"Bring it on!" Noya says with a cocky grin and Kageyama suffocates a chuckle.

 _You guys have no idea what you signed up for_.

"I... don't think we have enough rope for all five of you though." Yachi points out.

"You mean we _start_ with rope? We don't even get a chance to fuck up first?" Tanaka asks.

"There's not really much option." Kiyoko breaks in from where she's retrieving the tray that held meat buns from lunch. "It's almost impossible to break the subconscious movement without a physical aid at first." She states calmly. Their protests are quelled and Hinata turns back to him.

"Want to toss, Kageyama?"

"How about you leave Kageyama to explain the mechanics to us for a bit while Noya and Tanaka take the first stab at it?" Suga asks before he can respond. Hinata looks up at him, his eyes pleading and he wants to groan. Damn that look.

"Not a bad idea, Kenma can set for you, Shrimp." Kuroo says with a sharp eye that sets Kageyama on his toes and Kenma looks up at him offended. Suddenly, setting seems like an excellent idea.

"I don't want to." The golden cat says despondently and Kuroo grins down at him.

"You've been the laziest person here today. Go set."

Kenma looks away, a slight scrunch in his brow.

"Fine."

Hinata's still looking at him with those eyes and he has to look away.

"Eh, Kenma's the better choice anyway, idiot." He hedges. "I lose patience too quick when people fail. I'll come set for you in a bit— when they give up. Sound fair?" He asks. Hinata smacks him on the arm.

"Don't renege, moron."

Kageyama scoffs as the redhead climbs to his feet. Kenma reluctantly stands and so do Bokuto and Lev. They all make their way over to the net followed by Tanaka and Noya. He blandly notes the way Asahi's gaze follows their shortest Karasuno crow with precision, his eyes keeping sharp tabs on the owl and cats. _Huh. That finally become a thing?_ He wonders absently, because they've pretty much always been close. Kageyama barely has a chance to move before a heavy hand drops on his shoulder and he looks up to see Daichi.

 _Shit. This is going to be an interrogation._

A long sigh escapes him and Kuroo perks up as if he were a dog who'd just heard food rattle into his dish. Kageyama wordlessly stands and moves to a place where he can better watch Hinata help tie up the loudmouth twins and start explaining, mildly peeved when everyone moves with him. And is it just him or is everyone crowding in close? Bunch of freaking gossips.

"You haven't told him yet." Daichi says evenly. Kageyama meets his gaze briefly before looking back to where Tanaka is complaining that the rope Hinata tied his wings with is too tight. Bokuto laughs and remarks that now he can't get away… and does he imagine the way Asahi leans forward with a certain tension in his shoulders as the redhead secures Noya's wings?

"I meant to…eventually." He says, distractedly watching Hinata demonstrate a grounded attack.

"And… I assume everyone else here knows, right?" Daichi asks with a hard look. Kageyama catches Asahi glancing around at the faces beside them with uncertain knows they can all hear this conversation even if the redhead and and the loud twins can't, and he knows their expressions are probably completely unfazed by it— it isn't the first time it's been brought up.

"Pretty much. The Shrimp's the only one still in the dark." Tsukishima says from behind them. Kageyama scowls.

"Didn't you just leave? What are you doing back?" He grouses at the ibis.

"Came to watch the fireworks. This has got to be more interesting than watching your sidekick fail at teaching." He murmurs pointedly as Tanaka grumbles loudly in frustration.

"Pinfeathers, you're _unbearable_. Go find a rabid cactus to jack off to. It'll be prickly enough to match your personality so you shouldn't have any problem with the connection." Kageyama snaps, his patience with the other bird long spent.

Akaashi fails epically at keeping in his snort and even Kuroo can't banish the cheeky grin off his face when he chastises them with a stern 'Don't you guys ever quit?'.

"How do they all know about you two?" Asahi breaks in with tentative curiosity. Kageyama shrugs sullenly, his eyes following the swing of Hinata's arm as he follows through on striking another ball.

"Everyone needs sleep. Hinata glows. It's pretty freaking obvious."

Asahi blinks and his face pinks.

"You sleep with Hinata?" He asks in a weak voice. Kageyama feels his face coloring and his ears burn when Kuroo laughs.

"Shut up, Cat. You curl up with Kenma every night, too." He mutters peevishly.

"True, we sleep together, but we never get as tangled up in each other as you guys, Feathers." He says and laughs again. Kageyama wants to scowl at the stupid nickname the black cat had bestowed on him roughly two hours after they'd met. Kuroo still called him that even after he was no longer the only one with wings in the group. And no one else was ever 'Feathers' either. It was, in simplest terms, irritating.

"Your nightly exploits aside, Hinata doesn't know yet?" Daichi pointedly brings the conversation back on course and Kageyama wants to curse. Hinata draws his attention briefly back to the net when he barks at Bokuto for using his wings and threatens him with ropes if he doesn't cut it out. The owl looks appropriately cowed but not subdued while Tanaka puffs up.

"No. At least he hasn't made any mention of it." He murmurs.

"But you wanted to wait until you were sure he'd get his wings back, right?" Asahi asks uncertainly. Lev nails a solid hit over the net and the smallest Karasuno crow drops with impressive reflex and brings it up out of the sand.

"Oh, they'll grow back." Kuroo says with a mild smile. Asahi blinks in confusion and Kageyama knows for sure that he missed Hinata without a shirt.

"His feather base isn't any different from when you guys left, though."

Kageyama's gaze slides to the side. That was because it _hadn't_ really changed. The patch that slipped through the opening in his shirt had sprouted several new feathers over the twisted scar, but no hint of new wings, _nothing_ else about it had changed. But…

Hinata _will_ fly again.

"That's what that was, wasn't it?" Suga asks softly and Kageyama closes his eyes. Nothing on the surface was really different, but under the skin… Kageyama remembered the first time he'd noticed them.

He was always in contact with Hinata so he'd discovered the change over two months ago. They'd occasionally taken up the cats' regular habit of an afternoon nap and the redhead had been sacked out against him that day. He'd unconsciously run his hand over Hinata's back, still half catatonic himself, when he'd registered the feeling of ridges. Initially he'd concluded that he'd found Hinata's spine… except the ridges weren't on his spine and they were _vertical_. He'd come awake with a frown, sure it had been a distortion of the gray area between dreams and deeper sleep.

But the ridges remained under his fingertips, bizarrely out of sync with his mental image of Hinata's back.

Completely baffled, he'd hiked up the sleeping redhead's shirt. The motion had woken Kenma who'd stretched and rolled over to look at them reproachfully, but Kageyama hadn't taken notice. There, on either side of his spine were a pair of thin ridges almost completely invisible under the skin, four of them in all. The dual ridges ran the length of his spine, from his feather base to his hips. He'd blinked several moments before he'd made the connection and had looked up at a wide eyed Kenma. The golden cat had grabbed at Kuroo who'd startled awake and stared for several long moments with drowsy irritation before frowning and shoving his head back under his pillow.

They'd been tiny at first— each ridge perhaps half the width of his pinkie finger— and initially somewhat pliable. They'd been like the bottom couple ribs that were cartilage. Since then, the ridges had widened, their flexibility dwindling. Now, they were perhaps the width of Kageyama's index finger or the rope they used to bind the avians' wings when playing Ground Volley. Even so, if Hinata was wearing a shirt, they were still pretty much unnoticeable.

He doesn't answer Suga's question, opting instead to focus back on the figures by the net. Lev gets a solid contact with a ball and it sails over. Kageyama silently congratulates Tanaka when he clumsily adjusts and gets a hand on it. He closes his eyes. He'd much rather be over there with them right now than here under such fierce scrutiny.

"We could tell what those were from that brief glimpse; you think he won't figure it out?" Daichi asks and Kageyama can hear the disapproving frown in his voice. "Those are wings in their infancy."

Kageyama's eyes slide open. He blatantly watches the Volley lesson in favor of meeting his unit leader's gaze. Bokuto connects with a ball and it sails over. Kageyama has to be impressed in some back corner of his mind when Noya dives with impressive precision and pops it up from the sand after it ricochets off Tanaka's face because the spiker reflexively tried to use his tied wings to move instead of his feet.

"You're right. Those are the new long bones that will one day run their length." He murmurs.

"What are we talking about?" Asahi asks meekly.

"Next time the Shrimp has his shirt off, be sure to get a look at his back. You'll figure it out. Heh, Feathers here went out of character for a couple days after he noticed. Completely caved to everything the Shrimp asked for." Kuroo says, amusement playing around his eyes.

"And this didn't tip Hinata off?" Suga asks with a grin. Tanaka misses again and loudly grumbles in frustration.

"Might have been close...If I remember right, Kuroo broke his nose to bring him back to his senses." Akaashi chuckles.

"Yeah, thanks for that." Kageyama mutters sourly. Yeah. That had been a fun day.

"You were making everyone antsy, even Kenma." The cat huffs.

"Is that why it looks slightly crooked?" Asahi asks mystified.

"I'd consider it an improvement." The ibis says smugly.

"Shove it Tsukishima."

"Well this is great Kageyama. You can tell him you are levelers then." Suga says with a smile. Kageyama can't meet his silver gaze.

"I guess."

Kageyama watches absently as Noya and Tanaka start bickering until Hinata barks at them with that rare commanding note. His thoughts drift back to that first night… that argument. He's come to hate that memory with more passion than he's ever hated anything.

"What do you mean, 'you guess'? When exactly are you planning on telling him?" Daichi asks with a touch of accusation.

He'd meant to tell him… he really had. It had simply been easier to put off figuring out how. He didn't know how Hinata would take it… and how he'd deal with having been kept out of the loop so long. He didn't _know_ how he'd react.

"There's no great way to bring that up. 'So yeah, I never told you, but we're a level pair and oh, by the way Hinata, your wings are going to grow back in.' Yeah that will go swimmingly." He mutters.

"And I'm sure it'll sound even better after his new wings erupt from his back and he's confused and bleeding and in pain." Daichi says, his patience obviously stretching, and Kageyama flinches involuntarily and looks away from the net and to the sand in front of him. His gaze hardens slightly and he looks back up at their unit leader.

"That's not... How do I make sure he understands that I didn't do it out of some sense of _obligation_? As if I were just doing it as a favor or out of— of all the useless reasons— _duty_? How do I tell him that I'd have come with him even if we weren't levelers? Tell me, Daichi, how do I make sure that he knows that it _didn't matter_ to me if he never got his wings back? That I intended to stay with him regardless?"

Too late, the words are all out and with such distress that Daichi pulls back, surprise on his face. And Kageyama is painfully aware of the way everyone else around him has gone piercingly quiet. Everyone except Tsukishima apparently.

"I'm impressed that you put all that into words, but I'm frankly appalled you're so inept that you don't know what to do with it. He's oblivious, not stupid. You want him to know, then tell him exactly what you said just now." The ibis breaks in with a snide grumble.

Kuroo glares at him over Kageyama's head.

"Not helping."

Suga comes up in front of him, his face etched with concern; a sharp change from the amusement of a few moments before.

"Kageyama… where is this coming from?"

"It doesn't matter." He murmurs, unwilling to admit how much those words had affected him that night. Hinata had even said to leave if he couldn't deal. No matter how bad it might have gotten, Kageyama had never even considered that. It had never even entered his head as an option. He didn't know what he'd do if he somehow lost Hinata, couldn't imagine a world without him. At the time, they'd been words, but when they'd replayed through his head over and over and he'd woken from nightmares of arguments far worse with fatal results, he was terrified of a repeat.

"It does matter." Suga insists and Kageyama looks up at him, gaze hollow.

"Sugawara?" He asks, his gaze flitting to Daichi and back. "Do you know what happens when a level pair fight?"

Suga's eyes widen and Daichi frowns. It confirms his hunch that they don't. They've always been completely in tune with each other.

"That's—"

"It's painful...beyond compare. It feels like you're dying. It doesn't leave physical scars even if the pain is real, and it's easy to see how it can be lethal. And I have no intention of ever going through something like that again." Kageyama says slowly. Suga looks uncomfortable, like he has no idea how to answer that.

"You don't have to. You're thinking way too hard. Hinata would never assume you are here in any way other than voluntarily." He says hesitantly. Kageyama simply stares at him.

 _You're wrong, Suga. He already did._ The thought is bitter in his mouth.

"Kageyama!"

The black-haired crow flinches as the object of his thoughts screeches his name. He looks back to the net to find the redhead waving at him enthusiastically and his chest pinches slightly.

"Kenma bailed. Come toss for us!" He yells, his excitement completely brightening his face, his eyes snapping with it. Kageyama draws in a deep breath and pushes the painful memory aside.

"Did you chase him off _already_?" Kageyama grumbles with what he hopes is annoyance as he pushes to his feet. He would never admit it, but he's relieved to get a reprieve from the questions and probing accusations and memories that hit too close to home, and he steps away from them without a backward glance.

A/N: Here's another that had several rewrites and may be the longest chap so far in the story, but i am more satisfied with the results. Apparently, I enjoy torturing Kageyama and Hinata.

A friend pointed out for me that Level Pair will finish up just after the next Haikyuu! season opener if I keep my daily posting schedule, lol. I totally did NOT plan that, but it's awesome all the same, and the regular posts are still the plan. I am definitely looking forward to it and the chance to see these awesome characters animated once more. Stay awesome, guys!


	26. Recognition 1-3

**Level Pair; Recognition 1/3**

The worst thing is watching someone drown and being unable to convince them that they can save themselves just by standing up. ~Anonymous

 **Koushi Sugawara** watches as Kageyama stalks away without a word, the thrush's face a mask of covert astonishment. The redhead is lit up like a lantern as he bounces over to the taller crow's side, and Kageyama has his typical scowl firmly back in place when Suga catches sight of his face again, but it's not him he's focused on.

Hinata has that world ending smile, but his gaze is piercing and focused on the other boy with an unusual raptness for the redhead. It's a look that tells him that despite the happy creases at the corners of his eyes and the sparkle within them, the redhead is analyzing every detail of the taller crow, fierce calculation clicking in his head. It's a look that makes the thrush straighten, because he's seen it on Daichi. Whenever the larger crow was concerned that something was bugging him, that was the same covertly probing look he'd give Koushi.

Suga's ears have always been good; his attentiveness to others has always been tantamount to his ability to connect with everyone. Still, he barely catches the question the redhead utters under his breath with a level seriousness that jars with his joyful expression.

"You ok?"

Kageyama swats him off with a growl and an expletive and Hinata's smile brightens just a little more. Suga blinks as he processes what that exchange meant and turns to Daichi.

"That was a rescue." He says, a bit dumbfounded. Akaashi snorts and Kuroo looks up at him with a smirk.

"Happens a lot. For how often he plays the dense damsel part, the shrimp enjoys being a hero."

"He's a walking contradiction with how he can be both uncannily perceptive and negligently blind at the same time. He might not have been within earshot, but he was watching you guys put your little princeling on the spot almost from the get go." Tsukishima mutters and Asahi blinks with surprise.

"Seriously?"

"The moment the young king became markedly uncomfortable, that brat was looking for an opening. When you cornered him with a question he wouldn't answer, the damsel was done being in distress." Tsukishima says sullenly.

"He'll do it for any of us if we really start taking flak, but it's usually Kageyama. And it's usually sparing him the bean pole's snide comments. There was a good one just the other day… blondy was grilling him about his stunted personality and his hovering over Hinata, and the shrimp just flat out lost patience. How did he say it again, Cat?" Akaashi says with a bland look. The ibis scoffs, but Kuroo huffs with amusement.

"I believe the exact phrase was 'Shut the fuck up, Tsukishima.' Simple and blunt and perfect. Bokuto laughed himself stupid for five minutes and it put Kageyama into a stellar mood the rest of the night for an added bonus."

"Hinata said that?" Daichi asks incredulously and Suga can barely believe it either. Hinata has never been so confrontational.

"He gets bold sometimes. Particularly when his leveler is under fire." Akaashi says nonchalantly.

"It goes both ways, though." The soft voice of Kiyoko breaks in from behind them. "Kageyama is even quicker to rise on his behalf." Beside her, the little bunting, Yachi, smiles faintly.

"Hm. They really seem to connect, don't they." She murmurs softly.

And when Suga glances back to where the two have rejoined the others at the net, he catches a glimpse of what she means.

They have set up on one side with the two loud mouth twins while the lanky gray cat and the obnoxious owl team up on the other. Kageyama sets for the redhead and Noya and Tanaka while Bokuto ineptly sets for Lev. Despite the blatant disadvantage of Noya's and Tanaka's awkward movements and inexperience hitting with their arms, ball after ball drops on the other side. He can't help the way his face betrays his awe.

Hinata and Kageyama move fluidly across the sand, completely in tandem despite the two bound and clumsy crows that are more frequently in the way than they are helpful. They easily pick up any slack created by Nishinoya and Tanaka with the imbalance created by their new flightless state, filling the holes and flowing around them like water around a rock in a river. It is almost like an invisible tether connects them, controls them both at the same time. There is rarely a step out of place and it almost appears as if they move as a single unit.

It honestly gives Suga the uncanny impression that the setter and little spiker could secretly run laps around them all.

Suga can see a facet of what Yachi speaks of. Sitting around lunch or seeing just normal interactions, it was more subdued and less obvious… but watching them play 'Ground Volley' really illuminates how singularly conscious they are of the other at any given moment. They are so completely _aware_ of the other that they almost seem to lose track of all else.

The blond ibis puffs out a light breath in disdain before getting to his feet.

"This is a slaughter. Come on Yamaguchi."

"Tsuki, I was going to start on dinner with the girls…"

"Forget that, they can handle it. We could use a setter, Akaashi." The ibis says cavalierly. The owl shrugs with a huff but climbs to his feet as well. Suga distractedly blinks at the nickname that somehow seems incomprehensible given the blond's personality.

"Tsuki?" He echoes, mystified.

"Don't let him hear you say that. Yamaguchi is the only one that gets away with it." Kuroo murmurs as the three birds head for the net before the girls also rise.

"We should probably also get things set up for tonight, too. I assume you will be staying with us?" Kiyoko asks politely and Daichi glances at her in surprise.

"If you have the space, we'd be grateful… but don't feel obligated to put us up. We can find our own way."

"Not at all. We might be a little short on blankets, but that usually doesn't matter anyway. Space shouldn't be a problem; I'm sure we can fit five more." She says and Asahi frowns in confusion.

"The nights have been getting awfully cold lately, though…" He says in a voice that lacks all confidence. Yachi smiles brightly.

"You get eleven people in one room, it has a tendency to heat up pretty quick!" She says with a happy grin. Daichi's and Asahi's expressions match his own when they look at her with shock.

"Eh… one room?" Asahi asks and Kiyoko shrugs.

"Safety isn't the only good thing to be found in numbers." She murmurs before heading inside, the bunting trailing along behind her. Daichi looks over to Kuroo.

"You seriously all sleep in the same room? This place is huge though."

The black cat raises one shoulder in a half assed gesture.

"There are plenty of rooms, true, but aside from the kitchen and main receiving room, most of them aren't really used except perhaps for the occasional afternoon nap. The comfort of touch is a powerful thing… and the extra warmth doesn't hurt either. The owls especially turn into freaking radiators at night." He says with a grin.

"You guys sleep with owls." Asahi sounds like he's about to have a minor mental breakdown. Kuroo laughs before looking toward the net with a certain fondness.

"Yeah, we are cats and we sleep with owls. We also sleep with a snarky ibis, a high-strung bunting, and a bunch of crows. Two of them are girls, one of them an emotionally erratic prince, and another is grounded. It's frankly unprecedented… but it makes Kenma happy. And it all happened because of that redhead and his leveler." He nods towards the figures at the net. "If we'd never met them… we'd never have come this far."

Suga follows his gaze...and there they all are.

Tsukishimi murmurs something to Kageyama across the net with a condescending grin, Yamaguchi chastising him lightly. Bokuto snaps a great shot past Tanaka where he's still bound and off balance and promptly declares that he's the best to which Akaashi flatly denies with a bored expression. Noya manages to pop up a ball served by Yamaguchi and Tanaka finally gets a solid connection and it slips by the imposing grey cat. All four former Karasuno unit members on the sand pitch let out a whoop before the ball is quickly coming back.

Lev leaps and for a moment, Suga thinks there's no way they will stop it. But then Hinata, as short as he is, snaps into place, his hands raised, and the ball comes off the block. Noya almost falters before remembering his feet and dashes for it, his wings straining against the ropes on them. It comes off wildly but Kageyama's already moving. He sets his feet, his own wings barely even shifting and all but virtually forgotten, his body relaxed into the familiarity of a motion practiced a million times. Hinata calls for a toss and Suga can see Kageyama's head tilt just a touch and then the ball leaves his fingers, flying towards the net.

Suga catches his breath. One moment, it seems like the setter made a mistake— and then Shouyou is there, his hand raised, his eyes focused on the ball sent just for him.

And for that instant, Suga can almost believe he never lost his wings. He hangs in the air his face a mask of concentration, but Suga can see shadows of excited euphoria at the edges, just like he always had when they'd played back at the rookery. Perhaps even more free if that were possible.

His hand connects effortlessly with the ball and it sails past both Lev and Bokuto and Akaashi dives but it ricochets. Hinata lets out a yell almost before he hits the ground and then pauses as if he's remembered something before spinning back to the net. A scowl on his face, he pins Akaashi with his almond eyes snapping even if bereft of any real malice.

"Hey! I saw that! We still have more rope, you know— "

"Oi! Don't drop your arm like that, idiot! You lose power and speed." Kageyama cuts him off with a stiff bark and the redhead jumps before rounding back on the setter.

"Hah? You should put it a little higher, moron!"

"The set was perfect; you hesitated." Kageyama says coldly.

It's like seeing a phantom memory that could belong to any one of their matches back at the rookery, Suga thinks.

"Well," Kuroo says getting up, "that's about my cue to join. If you guys stay, maybe one of you can take over parenting duties." He says wryly before heading over to join the Karasuno unit's side with a halfhearted rebuke at the bickering pair. Suga muses about how the cat sounds annoyed, but readily offers tips and pointers to Tanaka and Noya.

 _Protector_ , Suga realizes. This cat is so prominent in this group because he is determined to protect them all, will do whatever is best for each and every one of them. And somehow… since Noya and Tanaka are a part of Kageyama and Hinata's world, they are afforded the same vigil. It's as if the umbrella of Kuroo's shelter extends to them merely due to their association with those he considers under his care. The thrush can't help but feel a stab of quiet admiration, and he imagines the large black cat's presence might make learning this variation of Volley a little smoother.

But with the arrival of the unspoken head of the beach group in the game, the mood suddenly seems to shift. Within a couple plays, Tanaka and Noya are breathing hard and everyone seems to sharpen as the game's speed picks up drastically. Tsukishima's taunts dwindle until his face is set into a calculating scowl, Yamaguchi's going serious with tension. Lev starts grinning with a slightly manic light in his face and Bokuto gets louder and more boastful even as Akaashi goes silent with attention. Hinata brightens but his actions grow more controlled and precise while Kageyama slips into his pervasively competitive tunnel vision. It's five on five, but really, Noya and Tanaka are barely contributing with their half-hour's worth of practice without using their wings, so it's actually more like three on five.

And yet… despite the height and power on the owls' side, they are losing. Kageyama and Hinata, backed by Kuroo, set the tone, their liquid connection and quick movements beating out the lanky grey cat, the sullen ibis, and the loud owl over half the time. The level pair is totally in sync… and yet, Suga can tell there's a tension there.

"Pretty impressive, aren't they." A quiet voice says behind them, and the thrush is slightly gratified when Asahi jumps alongside him. The three of them turn to find the golden cat, Kenma, watching the scrimmage with an apathetic expression but focused attention all the same. Lev is pretty laid back with an almost childish demeanor, and Kuroo has a commanding presence to him, but this cat has been mostly withdrawn since they'd arrived so Suga hasn't been able to get much of a read on him yet. His silent appearance has his feathers pricking slightly.

"Ah… yeah. It's fast." Daichi says.

"That's because the field of play is much smaller." Kenma says before turning golden eyes on _him_.

"You can see it, can't you? The disconnect." He says softly and Suga blinks and looks back to the net.

And then he gets it. This cat is exceptional at detail and analysis. Kenma reads people the same way he does, maybe better… a thought that is mildly unsettling in itself, but he brushes that aside because he knows exactly what the feline speaks of.

Hinata and Kageyama are totally synchronized in their movements, each step, each jump, each swing harmonizing directly with the other. But there is a communicational chasm between them— like an invisible wall. Kageyama won't speak about their innate link as a level pair and Hinata choses to remain ignorant of it because he refuses to push him. Kageyama is far more brooding and careful of his words than he would normally be and Hinata can tell and is on eggshells because of it.

He doesn't know why the redhead holds back; it's quite unlike him. The only thing Suga can think of is that he's somehow afraid of that conversation. Which makes no sense, because it's Hinata. This is the kid who went up against Kageyama and more or less called him out for being an ass on account of his recently deceased _mother—_ and came back completely unscathed. He's never been shy when asking about _anything_.

 _Do you know what happens when a level pair fight? I have no intention of ever going through something like that again._

Kageyama had implied they'd fought. Maybe that was why? He and Daichi had never been cross enough with one another to hit that point… but they had had a stretch right at the beginning where they hadn't spoken. He can see the distance between the two on the beach because he and Daichi had gone through something similar when they'd first discovered their own connection as levelers. He knows from experience the truth that rings in the cat's remark.

"Yeah." He says softly. "I can see it."

A/N: So. A chapter that isn't from Kageyama's or Hinata's point of view. I debated a lot on whether to do it, but kind of shrugged and went with it. I like Suga and I enjoyed writing this one just for the chance to get an outside view of the situation. The next chap is also from another 'side' character's POV. Props if you can guess who :) Haikyuu! Season 3 starts tomorrow, guys! Now go have an awesome night.


	27. Recognition 2-3

**Level Pair; Recognition 2/3**

Life is not worth living until you have someone to die for. And life is not worth dying when you have someone to live for. ~Aldyna Threesya

 **Daichi Sawamura** looks up at the catch in Suga's voice and wonders if he realizes it slipped out when he answered the small cat. There's a distance forming in his gray eyes as he watches the Ground Volley rally, one with a slightly pensive internal focus. It is a look that usually means he's remembering something with no level of fondness.

Something about the way the other level pair interacts has placed Suga on alert with critical scrutiny, his mind drawing parallels with the past. Generally, Daichi might not pick up the same cues, but not this time. He gets Kenma's remark… he lived through those memories with Koushi, and he's noticed it, too.

He and Suga had met around five or six hundred years old when the thrush's family had moved to the rookery for protection and ended up just down the way from his own. They'd grown up together, their families on excellent terms. Daichi had been pulled into Sentry training already by that point, often leaving Suga to play alone as a small child, but whenever he'd gone home, Koushi was the first person he'd always looked for.

Daichi would regale him with all kinds of details about training on those visits— from drills, to meals, to punishments, to Volley, to even the others in his unit. Daichi had brought home a ball at one point and asked him to set for him— apparently with such enthusiasm, that by the time the large crow had returned the next time, the thrush had learned the game so he could play it with him. Daichi had even brought his unit back a few times so Suga could meet them. He had always been somehow closer to the thrush than he was even to his own unit even though he'd spent a vast majority of his time with the latter.

And then, a few years back, Koushi had broken a wing.

It had been late in the summer and a broken wing took six weeks to heal the bone— if it had been set properly— and probably another six weeks before it could safely be considered weight bearing for extended flight. There was no way he'd have been able to make the migration that fall. When Daichi had found out about it, he'd been determined to stay through the cold months with him, regardless of the thrush's protests and the potential consequences with his unit.

Except… when he'd returned home not long before everyone was set to migrate, he'd found the thrush family dwelling empty, no one having seen them for the better part of a week. He'd stood in their kitchen for probably close to an hour trying to wrap his head around the fact that they'd _left_. And that Suga hadn't told him… hadn't even given him the choice of going with.

After the initial shock, he'd been furious.

He'd nearly killed his unit on their migration that year; the pace he'd set had been daunting and frankly, unsustainable. But they'd all kept up with him, making it to the far shore nearly three hours ahead of the entire rest of the murder. He'd been a fool not to realize that they'd all work to stay with him— they were a unit, after all. Tanaka had thrown up over the water, Hinata nearly the moment they touched the sand. Asahi had swayed on shaky legs, and Noya had collapsed against a log and refused to move until everyone else showed up. Really, the only person that seemed to be in relatively decent shape was Kageyama, and that was probably because he actually _liked_ migrations, not that he was in any better condition than the rest of them. But even his face had been drawn with fatigue, his breathing ragged.

It was the first time the Grand King had ever leveled him with a deadly serious reprimand and a stern warning that something like that had better never happen again. Tooru had been right, and it had been grounding to realize how reckless his angry headlong sprint over open water had been. If any one of them had faltered or given out, there'd have been no way to help them because the rest of them had been just as spent.

To have helped a failing companion would have been placing oneself in just as much danger, and with the rest of the rookery sentries three hours behind, help would never have come in time. His gut had dropped as he realized that any one of them— or even all of them— could have drowned and there would have been nothing he could do. He'd quite literally put their unit in serious peril all because he'd still been irrationally irate.

It was a mistake that completely disintegrated his malcontent, allowing him to think clearly for the first time in several days. And in the wake of that harsh reality of having endangered his unit, it finally hit home.

Sugawara and his family would be wintering over in the north.

The world would frost over, game and food would become scarce, and freezing temperatures wouldn't be restricted only to nights. With food becoming a commodity, competition could get fierce and sometimes downright dangerous. It would be a harsh environment for any of them, but for a songbird that had no natural tolerance to the cold like crows did, it would be bitterly taxing at the very least. The likelihood that he'd never see Suga and his family again was as much a possibility as them surviving.

Daichi had spent the entire four months at their winter rookery brooding with gut deep worry. He'd gone through all the motions, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything from that stretch. By the time they'd prepared for their return, he'd lost over fifteen pounds and half his sanity.

He'd set a much more manageable pace on the way back, but it had still been pushing their unit and they'd all complained at him… even Kageyama had asked him what his deal was. When their rookery had finally come back into sight, he had peeled off from the others and bypassed the barracks altogether, heading straight for Koushi's home.

He hadn't stopped until he'd landed outside just as Suga had stepped around the corner with a pack and skin for water. He'd been bundled up in the early spring chill, his face red from the cold, and his hair had fluttered in the light breeze as he'd frozen upon meeting his gaze. Daichi didn't know if he expected him to be half starved or haggard or what, but he'd looked completely healthy and strong and _whole_.

Daichi had nearly gone to his knees with relief. He'd been so thankful to any deity that would listen that Suga was _safe_ , that any lingering anger over the thrush's disappearance before fall migration had been banished completely. He'd all but tackled Koushi, the gray-haired boy losing his grasp on his items with shock. He'd been so tense, as if he'd expected to be reamed out, but Daichi couldn't have yelled at him even if he'd wanted to.

"Please don't disappear like that again." He'd said, his voice curiously scratchy with a pitiful pleading quality. "I don't think I'll survive it a second time."

Suga had jerked slightly with a sharp intake and finally returned the embrace. They'd stayed up late that night, talking long into the early hours of the morning, Daichi completely uncaring of any retribution his absence would gain him the next day.

Suga and his family had gone down to a small fishing village with a thriving shell market on the southern coast. They'd escaped the brunt of the cold in the mountains and deep inlands by staying in the moderate climate by the ocean. Apparently, they had had family ties there that were happy to offer their home for the winter as they themselves were going to be migrating. And they'd kept the family shop open, so they'd gotten by just fine for food.

Suga's wing had healed… but not correctly. It had been six months since he'd broken it and he could fly well enough and they were sure that it would be able to handle a migration the next fall, but the long bone was bowed and at risk of being broken again if he wasn't careful.

It had been a month later when they'd stayed out late, talking around a bonfire behind Suga's home on an unusually warm spring night. They'd talked until the fire had burned down to coals, and then they'd stayed up to watch the stars. They'd fallen asleep together, Daichi with an arm thrown around Suga's back and the thrush's head dropped onto his shoulder.

They were woken by Suga's mother who'd come to check on them and had dropped the glasses of water she was holding. When she'd stared at them for a long moment and whispered an expletive, both he and Suga had initially been confused and foggy with sleep.

"You're levelers." She'd said, almost swaying where she'd stood.

It hadn't registered at first for Daichi, but Suga had straightened beside him before looking up at him with a pained expression. And then he'd pushed away from him and fled, leaving Daichi wondering what the hell had happened.

Suga's mom had seen his wings glowing with an ethereal silver light and made the connection. She'd been awed and ecstatic and had pleaded with Daichi to help heal her son's wing. But Suga, it seemed, hadn't been as thrilled and had avoided him for over a week. He'd finally cornered him and the thrush hadn't been able to meet his gaze.

"You're a crow and a sentry, and not just any, but one set to rise with Kageyama when he takes over— probably his right hand. I'm a thrush, no one."

"Do I look like I care about that? Besides… that's the upside to my position. I can have anyone I want. I'm not expected to carry on some 'tradition' or bloodline."

Suga had turned away from him at that, making him feel like he'd misstepped.

"But don't you _want_ kids and a family someday? You' won't get that with me." He'd finally said. Daichi had grabbed his shoulders and forced him to meet his gaze.

"Do _you_?" He'd asked.

Suga's gaze had fractured, his expression paling.

"Of course. Who wouldn't?" He'd asked miserably. Daichi had huffed with amusement at Suga's anxiety.

"Heh. You can have as many as you want. There's always a kid who needs a parent."

Suga had basically all but melted, and that had effectively killed the silent treatment. But that wasn't enough for Daichi. He'd wanted the thrush beside him twenty-four-seven. They'd faced the huge challenge getting Suga into the unit; if one wasn't a crow, one generally didn't make it into the military.

But… his unit had already had one songbird.

Daichi doesn't know how many of them ever realized it, and certainly none of them ever cared if they did, but Shouyou Hinata isn't a crow. Even Suga had made the comment after the first time he'd met the redhead.

His size is a good indicator, and if one had been observant enough, he'd had white ticking and the occasional orange tinted feather that scattered along the undersides of his wings before he'd lost them. But more obvious are his voice and hair. Daichi had never met another crow with the fiery orange locks of the small spiker, and his voice was much too clear and musical to have ever been a crow's. He still remembered how piercing it had been when it had echoed through the pitch during their game against the Grand King, and how he'd gotten everyone to pause and look his way.

His size was easy to overlook when they had Noya who was smaller and most definitely a crow, and the peppering of white ticking in his feathers was only noticeable if one was paying attention. That only left his voice and hair, neither of which _really_ gave anyone much pause.

But Daichi knew the Grand King had known. He'd have probably nipped the redhead's induction into their unit in the bud if he'd have been on top of things then, but in truth, the rookery leader had only really noticed the kid when they started winning matches. By that point, he'd been fully integrated into their group as a fluid member of their team, performed all the same drills and tasks, did everything they did…

In every way that counted to the unit, he basically _was_ a crow, and his positive impact had been undeniable, so Tooru had let it go. But he'd taken a keen interest in the workings of the group from there on out, and Daichi was sure it was to prevent further 'questionable' decisions being made without his approval. Which had meant that getting Suga in would be a hard sell.

Hinata could pass for a small crow because his wings were— for all practical purposes— black like the rest of theirs; Suga's grey ones automatically set him apart. Daichi had burned through pretty much all of his goodwill he'd built up over the centuries with Tooru in order to get the thrush in, and would have severed ties completely if it had come to that.

Kageyama had been right. His own family had threatened to disown him for such rash and insulting actions against the leader of the Karasuno Rookery. But Daichi had never informed them about he and Suga being levelers. Suga's parents had been instantly supportive, but his own were more traditional and he'd doubted they would have been so open minded. In the end, he'd convinced the Grand King to agree to a trial period and if Suga couldn't hack it alongside the rest of them or if Tooru hadn't seen some positive outcome, he'd let it go and resign his post. The Grand King had relented in a rare decision that Daichi still didn't know the basis for.

From there on out, they had been together. Suga's wing healed perfectly in a matter of weeks, the thrush rose to the challenge as part of the unit, and the Grand King had never said another word on it. Their relationship had done nothing but strengthen with very few wrinkles to be had. They were exceptional at both communication and listening to one another. They'd never really had a major argument.

But that week of Suga avoiding him— of silence and tension— had nearly exhausted him. Not even the months he'd spent away from him that winter when Suga stayed behind had been so gut-wrenching. There was a difference between the crappy feeling of not being _able_ to be with the person you wanted to, and the crappy feeling of not being _wanted_ to be with. If Hinata's and Kageyama's situation was anything similar, Daichi couldn't fathom how much it was probably wearing on them.

And they'd been doing this for _six months_? They'd kill each other through that cautious silence if they kept this up. He reaches out and brushes Suga's hand lightly, drawing the thrush's soft yet distracted gaze.

"This can't stay this way." He murmurs.

A/N: Eh. This one was more a flashback chapter than anything and nothing of plot value actually happens, and it hit me today like a half hour ago that it's basically just like one of those filler episodes you see and grumble about. But the next one isn't ready or I might've just skipped this one and went right to that one; you are all stuck with a bit of backstory for Suga and Daichi, sorry guys.

Next one is also not a Kageyama/Hinata chapter. If there's one thing/scene you'd like to see/know more about as a post epilogue chapter, let me know and I might try to put something together... I've never done prompts before so this could be fun, lol. My only restriction: no explicit scenes... I can't write them with any kind of quality to save my life. Heh, they come out stunted and clumsy and awkward. Nope, nope, nope, lol

My inspiration was a little slow this week -Probably on account of my SO being away most of the week :p - and the next chap has really been tough. And just cuz you all need to know how useless I am without him... pretty sure I haven't engaged in any acceptable societal interaction aside from work and my diet has consisted of pizza rolls and ice cream since he left on Monday (business trip to CHICAGO, WOO). Nyx CAN cook, but Nyx is just that lazy, and when fending for oneself, Nyx reverts to College level apathy. Eh, I hope you guys all got a chance to see the Season Three opener; the animation is absolutely stunning and don't know about you guys, but I'm already impatient for the next episode!

As always, have a fantastic evening everyone! :)


	28. Recognition 3-3

**Level Pair; Recognition 3/3**

We rise by lifting others. ~Robert Ingersoll

 **Asahi Azumane** moves closer to the once more bickering pair, the tension in his shoulders getting worse.

He doesn't like this plan. Not at all. Kageyama is going to be cross with him.

But Kageyama has been carefully eluding their senior level pair with remarkable adeptness ever since that strained conversation earlier, so cornering him once more has fallen to him. And maybe… if he's lucky, he can ask him a question or two of his own. He's been anxiously watching for an opportunity the whole afternoon and already missed several because he couldn't bring himself to act, and here the evening meal is already drawing to a close and the sun is dropping in the sky and he's holding back _again_.

He'd grasped that Kageyama had yet to tell Hinata about being levelers, but he doesn't see the same 'disconnect' the golden cat had spoken of that Daichi and Suga seem keyed in to. The two seem to get along like they always have… even if maybe a little more mellow. They acquiesce to each other far more easily than they ever have, their verbal sparring not as sharp as normal. They seem… almost subdued. And Asahi supposes that that feels strange...like Kageyama is actually _more_ moody than normal and Hinata _isn't_ quite as bright, maybe?

Crap. Daichi is eyeing him with a frown again. He takes a deep breath.

"Kageyama… can you…" He murmurs and it fails to even catch the attention of the arguing pair. His mouth dry, he tries once more with a little more volume.

"Eh… Hinata, can I borrow Kageyama for a couple minutes?" He says tentatively.

They both look at him, and he doesn't mean to but he takes a half step backward under their dual focus. It's unnerving, he thinks, how they can both pin someone with the same expectant look.

"What for, Asahi? Can I help?" Hinata is quick to ask and Kageyama's gaze flickers to the redhead before back up at him. For a brief second, Asahi thinks he might see it… that there might be a tension that he's missing.

"Ano… I was going to um… ask him about what a spiker could do to help someone improve sets." He hedges, feeling totally obvious that that was definitely _not_ what he wants to know. But Hinata's head tilts.

"Why would anyone else need to set? We have Kageyama."

Asahi blinks and his shoulders hunch slightly.

"Well… _we_ didn't have him. Noya did his best to try and learn so he could help Suga. He's got it down well enough where he can come up from the back and set if he has to, but I wondered if Kageyama had any advice." Asahi mumbles and glances at the dark-haired boy who watches him with an unreadable expression.

 _Yeah, he definitely saw through it. But..._

Hinata spins around to look at where Noya sits beside Tanaka with shock.

"Noya, you are setting now?" He asks with amazement, his face splitting into an awed grin. To Asahi's relief, Kageyama also glances at him with veiled curiosity, subconsciously following the redhead's lead.

Noya pauses mid-chew as if he's been caught by their drill instructor snitching Momma Yu's sweets between sets. His gaze flickers between the two before jumping to _him_ with a mild questioning glance. Asahi's mouth quirks sheepishly.

 _Sorry… help._

Noya blinks at him… and then swallows his food and grins back at the setter and redhead with a cocky glint in his eyes.

 _Thank god Noya was better at picking up hints than he was_ , he mentally sighs with relief.

He hadn't had a chance to talk to their shortest member after Daichi and Suga had cornered Kageyama earlier. Noya wouldn't know what was all going on— wouldn't know about Hinata's regenerating wings or the 'distance' he couldn't seem to see between their younger level pair. He would probably expect an explanation later, but Noya fell into the role of distracting the redhead now with no effort.

"Yeah, you've had Kageyama all summer so we had to figure _something_ out. Suga's been helping me and I've got it down pretty good now." He says and Shouyou bounces over to him completely starry eyed and babbling.

"Wow, that is so cool! I want to see! Can you toss for me, too? Was it hard? How long did it take you to get it right?"

The redhead chatters away and Noya glances back at him briefly. Asahi can't help but smile crookedly. Frankly, he's dumbfounded the excuse he pulled out of thin air worked _that_ freaking well to distract the brilliant ball of energy.

"I'm going to hazard a guess that you aren't actually looking for pointers." Kageyama murmurs at his shoulder, his eyes fixed on the redhead where he talks animatedly with the other crow. Asahi starts. Yeah… definitely sharper than the redhead.

"Eh… we agreed to try to keep everything under wraps if you hadn't told him. But, I'm okay if you have any tips, too." He mumbles, feeling like he's about to get a punishment drill. Kageyama cocks a brow at him skeptically.

"Be early on your hits. It doesn't matter if you feel like you've wound up too soon; you won't be as early as you feel and if he can see you, he can get it to you more accurately. Use your off hand as a guide to let him know exactly where you want it when you hit. Always stay out of his way and always be ready so he has your option. He needs freedom of movement to be able to assess your side, the other side, and determine who to send it to, all while lining up to take the hit." Kageyama rattles off at him and he blinks.

"Oh… I will have to try that." He murmurs, positive he won't remember most of it.

"So what is it you really want to talk about?" Kageyama asks tersely and turns to put a bit more distance between himself and the redhead. Even if the brisk demeanor isn't unusual, it still gives the larger crow the distinct impression that his patience hasn't recovered much from earlier this afternoon. Asahi shadows him and glances at the setter's dispassionate expression. Well, since he has the other crow's attention, he might as well use it.

"Eh… I have a question— about levelers." He mumbles. Kageyama glances back at him sharply, his eyes pausing on him with critical assessment.

"What about them?" He says as he leans back against the porch railing with arms crossed, his gaze fixing on where Noya and Hinata chatter back and forth excitedly, a few wild gestures thrown in for emphasis. Asahi mimics the action self-consciously.

"Um, did you, you know… did you have any idea that you and Hinata were levelers before you had confirmation on it?" Kageyama's eyes flick over to him and back to where Tanaka has joined Noya and the redhead.

"Not really. The only thing that would have given it away was the agony and 'freaky fried feathers' thing when we argue, but neither of us realized that was because we were a level pair." He says, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Eh… fried feathers?" He asks dubiously. Kageyama's gaze never leaves the redhead.

"You molt feathers that look like they were crisped from the inside out. I… kept one from the last time it happened for us—one of my flight feathers. It's to remind me what can happen when we completely fail at connecting and how badly it sucks. I'll have to find it and show you sometime." He says, his eyes growing amaurotic with a certain inwardly resentful recollection.

It's an expression that whispers of pain and uncertainty. Moreover, it's a look that doesn't fit the Kageyama that he knows and contrasts sharply with the rigid confidence and unyielding personality that was present in all aspects of life back at the rookery. A slow feeling ignites in the back of Asahi's head— that _this_ might be a part of what the cat spoke of.

"Oh… there wasn't anything besides that?" He asks tentatively, unable to keep from pushing because he really wants to know. Kageyama's cobalt orbs clear in an instant and meet his own mocha ones with a cynical crease at their corners as he releases a mild huff.

"We didn't exactly cuddle much in the barracks so we weren't close enough to initiate something like the binding effect." Kageyama drawls. Asahi blinks before bringing his hands up in front of him placatingly.

"I meant—like anything else. Any gut feeling?" He says weakly and the other crow frowns and looks back toward Hinata and Noya.

Asahi's honestly shocked that Kageyama is being so forthcoming, and he keeps wondering when the setter will get tired and brush him off in annoyance. He was generally always pretty reserved back home— like he was muzzled with everyone except Hinata, really— so the fact that he's talking freely has Asahi's skin tingling just a bit in both anticipation and trepidation. It means he's going to get answers, but it also gives him the feeling that Kageyama might kill him once they're finished.

"I don't know. Maybe? He's always been able to get me to _do_ things that no one else would when he gets it in his head, I guess… and I can't stay pissed at him no matter what he does. But there's nothing really that stands out. Why are you asking?" The other boy says in a flat voice.

 _Ah. Patience limit reached._ Kageyama turning a question back on him is a pretty good indicator that he's done volunteering information on himself. But the question he asks makes Asahi freeze.

"Ah— No reason… just curious." He says, his brain just spitting the words out with no tact or structure and his voice anything but relaxed, and he wants to facepalm. Kageyama tosses a mocking glance his way.

"Right." He says, the sarcasm beneath the single word telling him exactly how much he believes him. The setter sizes him up before looking away again and Asahi wants to breathe a sigh of relief. He can see why Kageyama wouldn't want to talk much about this; he's not very comfortable with it either.

"I'm probably not the best person to ask. I don't really… notice those kinds of things. Suga and Daichi would probably be a better source on this." He says dismissively.

 _Suga and Daichi._ Ah, right. The reason he was supposed to talk to Kageyama in the first place.

"Ano… it's not my place to say anything on how you approach the leveler thing with Hinata, but..." He says apologetically, unable to finish the thought. He _really_ doesn't want to talk about this anymore. Kageyama is just going to get irritated.

"But you have an opinion." Kageyama states placidly, a frown creasing his forehead. Asahi bites his lip.

 _No. Suga and Daichi do._ He takes a deep breath, finding a half-buried bit of driftwood in the sand beside them to focus on.

"You, um… you've been around Hinata all summer, so maybe it's not so strange for you now, but…" He falters slightly before he meets the piercing cobalt gaze of their setter. "We only saw him for like two days, so it's still really jarring to see him without wings. It's a harsh reminder so he will draw our attention all the more."

Kageyama''s frown deepens and he looks back to the two as they are joined by a lively Bokuto. The appearance of the owl so close to Noya momentarily distracts Asahi and he blinks to recover his attention when Kageyama answers.

"Hinata without wings will never be normal. Where are you going with this?" He asks, a tendril of irritation infiltrating the question. Asahi fidgets uncomfortably.

 _Where_ was _he going with this again?_

"Ah. Right. Hinata is comfortable around all of us— enough to remove his shirt with wingless shoulders and a scarred back like that in front of us without a second thought. Even if they knew ahead of time, do you really think Tanaka and Noya will keep quiet once they see it?"

Asahi feels foolish because _he_ hasn't see Hinata's back either, doesn't really know what the deal is. He just knows from what Kuroo said earlier that somehow the redhead will get his wings back, and if one saw his back, one would know. But if whatever is on Hinata's back is that important, he's sure Tanaka and Noya would make a fuss even if they'd been told not to. That's just the way they are— excitable and occasionally unpredictable. They'd probably be losing their minds before they remembered they were supposed to keep them.

"I'm aware." Kageyama says evenly, a frown marring his face.

The lanky gray cat joins the owl and three crows with particular interest in Noya's setting capabilities, and Asahi is abruptly having a hard time focusing on the conversation. Noya is right next to a cat and an owl, both things that they'd been told were _dangerous_ since they were infants. Asahi doesn't know any of the beach group beyond the last few hours and despite Kageyama's and the redhead's ease and assurances, Noya's only backup at that range would be Tanaka and a grounded Hinata if he needed it.

He mentally muscles his attention back to the conversation at hand, but his gaze never wavers from its critical focus on where Noya is talking with the others with vibrant animation. He'd really feel better if he were closer to them. Asahi releases a weighted breath; he can do this.

"I think you should tell him. If you all… _we_ all sleep in one room, them seeing his back... that's going to happen sooner than you probably want. That's something Hinata probably shouldn't find out any other way than from you." He says, his own voice sounding far more confident than he feels.

Kageyama's shoulders tighten just a bit. They both jump as Kuroo's face drops between them, the cat bracing himself on his elbows on the railing.

"That's nothing he hasn't heard before," He says nonchalantly before fixing the setter with an intrigued glance, "but I have to say, Feathers; that was more of a reaction than _we_ got for it."

Asahi can't help the way his hair and wings stand on end.

 _Where did this guy even_ come _from?_

"Piss off, Kuroo." Kageyama grouches with a strange weariness that holds far too little caution to Asahi.

The large cat is an inch from his shoulder and when he meets Kuroo's golden gaze, he freezes as he catches the unsettling cloudiness in the one eye for the first time, an anomaly in what he subconsciously expects.

"You know, for as big as you are, you remind me of our bunting, Yachi." He says with a grin. Asahi blinks while Kageyama rolls his eyes beside him.

"Seriously, Cat. Get lost."

Asahi doesn't want to take his eyes off Kuroo, who is far too close for comfort, but he can't keep from glancing warily toward Noya and the others. There are _so_ many people he doesn't know and it's making him nervous… and weren't there supposed to be two owls? Where's the other one? And the other small cat...

"Your concern is showing, Goatee."

Asahi jumps and spins back toward the cat who watches him with both his clear and blind eyes laughing.

"Sorry?" He murmurs, shrinking back when the black cat leans toward him with an amused smirk.

"Kenma says you've been watching the other dinky one like a hawk the whole day so far. If you want my advice, you're worrying about the wrong people. Bokuto and Lev are harmless. The people you should worry about are the ibis and Kyoko."

Kageyama snorts beside him.

"Hardly. The person you _should_ be concerned about is this bastard." He says, jerking a thumb toward the black cat.

Kuroo turns his one clear eye on the other crow balefully, the dull one following just as well as if it weren't sightless. It's honestly disconcerting on several levels, he thinks.

"Oi. I saved your life, you little prat." He says with a scowl and Kageyama huffs.

"That was actually Kenma. Within ten minutes of meeting me, you promised to off me."

Kuroo scoffs.

"A little fear for one's life reminds one to live. And don't forget who told him where to find you." Kuroo's gaze swings towards Asahi before the setter has a chance to answer, and the large crow does his best not to flinch as the half-foggy golden focus fixes on him once again.

"You grew up with this guy right? Was he always this sullen? Or is he just that emotionally stunted and defensive?"

"Eh… yes?" He says uncertainly.

He's pretty sure Kageyama is _all_ of those things… especially without Hinata. Kageyama's gaze flickers to him with a snapping irritation and a measure of betrayal, and he has a moment to regret his answer. But he doesn't have a chance to backtrack because the black cat lets out a deep rumbling laugh and vaults the railing over their heads.

"This is going to be _way_ more entertaining than I thought." He says as he straightens up and turns toward Kageyama with a slightly predatory grin.

"By the way, Feathers, why are you avoiding your captain? Pretty sure Yamaguchi or even Yachi wouldn't hide like this." He says and Kageyama scowls.

"That's because both of them have volatile bodyguards." He grumbles. Kuroo laughs again and throws an arm over Asahi's shoulders, completely unfazed by his flinch.

"I'm going to tell Kiyoko you said that." He says with a grin and latches onto a quickly souring Kageyama's shirt with the other hand. He turns and steers them back toward the others… specifically Suga and Daichi. "Come on. You haven't seen them in six months. Take your verbal beating and be done with it."

 _Oh, boy. This can only end in flames._ Asahi thinks as they come up to the others. But he's not prepared for the way Suga intercepts them.

"Kageyama, we never intended to upset you. We are just concerned." He says contritely. Daichi is behind him, his face a bit more reserved, but he nods as well.

"We do not know the whole situation, so we are in no position to make calls." He says a little uncomfortably and Asahi has to mask his surprise. Still, one of his brows cocks with minor indignation. It's basically all but an apology. Why did they send him after Kageyama if they were already intending to do this?

Kageyama's shoulders are stiff and he doesn't look at them when he takes a seat beside them.

"It's ok. You aren't wrong. He needs to know." He says evenly, if a little grudgingly.

The senior level pair and Kuroo follow his lead and sit, and Asahi notices the other owl, Akaashi, the golden cat, Kenma, and Yamaguchi materialize around them as well. Seriously. Where do these people _come_ from?

"I don't know how to tell him. I'll only get one chance to get that right." The setter murmurs.

"Kageyama…" They all turn to look at Yamaguchi. "What's the first thing you see every morning?" He asks softly. Kageyama blinks.

"Hinata." He mumbles, the tips of his ears flushing.

"Why do you think that is?" Yamaguchi asks, the hint of a smile around his mouth.

Kageyama's face goes blank.

"Eh…" He completely stumbles and the smile blooms in earnest on Yamaguchi's face.

"It's the same reason he's the first one to your side during a nightmare or when you get angry. He wants to be there for you… just like you are for him."

"But your silence makes him nervous." Kenma cuts in. "Kageyama, he hangs on your every word, because he's _waiting_ for you. Just like he waits for the chance to show you how much he cares whenever you wake in a cold sweat." The golden cat says quietly, perhaps with a touch of frustration.

"It won't matter how you tell him. He'll listen because it's you." Akaashi states.

"But the longer you wait, the more uncertain he'll become." Yamaguchi adds. Kageyama's gaze falls.

"He'll listen but will he hear what I say?" He asks with a dark inward frown.

"You aren't giving him enough credit, Feathers." Kuroo rebuffs with a half-hearted grin.

Asahi feels as if it's gone awfully quiet around them and with a jolt, he turns to where he no longer hears the redhead and the others. An eyebrow creeps up his forehead. They are all still there… except the owl. But Hinata, Noya, Tanaka, and Lev all have their heads together, murmuring conspiratorially. It makes Asahi's neck itch.

 _Oi. That's definitely the birth of a prank happening right there._

"Kageyama…" Daichi asks quietly, drawing Asahi's attention once more just as Bokuto comes back out of the house. The sentry leader seems uncomfortable, his gaze focused on the ground. "Have you ever wondered if everything might have been simpler if you'd just told your father?"

There's nothing but cold anger in Kageyama's eyes as they find the larger crow.

"Hinata would have ended up in a gilded cage. If you think that would have been in any way better than where we are now, you clearly don't know Shouyou." He bites out harshly.

"That's not…" Daichi breaks off before clasping his hands together and bringing them to his mouth as if he's trying to figure out how to say what's on his mind. "Kageyama… the Grand King is not the same person as he was when you left. He truly cares about you."

Kageyama shrugs and Asahi deduces annoyance.

"Not enough to listen." He mutters.

"He might now." Daichi says quietly. Kageyama instantly bristles and Asahi almost flinches as the tension around them shivers just a bit.

"We're not going back. He'll never threaten Hinata again." Kageyama vows, his voice glacial. Daichi closes his eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that...I just think you would find the shift interesting. As weeks went by and there was no trace of you guys— as if you'd vanished from existence, it wore on him. You disappeared without a backward glance, no note, no parting word, nothing… and I think it hit home. He's aged a lot in the last six months and I'm not sure you'd recognize him now. Sure he was irate at first— I mean, he turned the rookery upside down, ransacked the forests, and we all went through interrogations— but he's not the same."

"Then maybe he's learned some—" Kageyama breaks off with a sharp jerk backward and Daichi flinches violently as he's hit with a small object. Asahi blinks as he tries to process what just happened… because there is egg sliding down the side of their unit leader's face.

For a long moment, everyone stares. Daichi slowly raises a hand to his face, his expression curiously blank. As he pulls his hand away, smeared yellow with egg yolk and bits of shell, he blinks rather mechanically. And then Kageyama's head snaps sideways with a scowl.

"Oi! Again with the eggs!?" He barks. Asahi turns to see Noya and the others blinking owlishly at them.

"Eh… it was him." Hinata says in a small voice, pointing to Tanaka. The bald crow jolts and turns toward the redhead with an eyebrow twitching.

"It was not! Wait, _again_!? You totally just set us up, didn't you?" He roars.

"That was actually pretty easy." Lev tells the cross crow blithely before glancing toward the redhead. "You were right, Kageyama's reflexes are still sharp as ever."

"I _told_ you he'd see it and dodge."

"What are you, a freaking _urchin—_ "

"Seriously?" Daichi deadpans, his quiet voice undercutting Kageyama's insult. His gaze flickers between the crow setter beside him and the redhead over by the food, and silence drops once more.

Asahi's back tenses just a bit, his wings pulling together slightly. He can't help it. The air around them somehow tightens, lancing his thoughts with severe déja vu. The last time this happened, it was the _Grand King_ staring at the slimy remnants of an egg on his hand with skeptical disbelief— and he's sure the Karasuno group all remember how that turned out. Between the Grand King and Daichi, he'd take the latter's reaction any day over the former's… but still, this is their _unit leader._ When he loses patience, Daichi can usually get even a bickering Kageyama and Hinata to mind with nothing more than one of his dark looks and a few terse words.

"Pfft!"

Everyone straightens just a bit and they all collectively turn to look at whoever apparently seeks Daichi's wrath. Suga shrinks backward and covers his mouth, but it does nothing to stem the snicker that bursts forth.

Asahi glances back at Daichi who's watching the thrush with a raised eyebrow. Suga's hand falls away from his face as a new wave bubbles up from his gut, and his arms come around his middle. The thrush almost overbalances and rolls backward as a clear ringing laugh erupts in its entirety, his eyes watering over in the grip of his mirth.

Wave after wave of hilarity spills forth from the thrush until he can barely breath, and the corner of Daichi's mouth twists slightly. Bringing his fingers still coated in raw egg together, he turns his hand and flicks them at the tittering gray haired boy. Suga gasps lightly as egg hits his cheek before he's laughing again and the tension breaks completely as Daichi releases an amused huff of his own.

"I obviouslyshould have ducked out of chores like everyone else. Here, Captain Karasuno." A voice says over their shoulders and they turn to find Tsukishima holding out a towel.

"Tsukki, why do you conveniently have that right when we need it?" Yamaguchi asks as Daichi takes it gratefully.

"Because Bokuto isn't as stealthy as he thinks he is." The ibis remarks blandly.

"He actually got past Kiyoko?" Akaashi asks with a raised eyebrow and the ibis shrugs.

"She wasn't inside, so I guess that makes him lucky."

Hinata, Lev, Bokuto and the loud twins have ceased paying attention, though, the fun of egging their unit leader over and Noya says something about the beach. The cat begs off in favor of _not_ getting wet and Bokuto taunts him about getting his fur all messed up. Lev points out that it's _fall_ and the water will be cold and the owl visibly deflates. Tanaka is pulling his shirt anyway saying how he doesn't care because they haven't seen the ocean all summer, and Kuroo laughs and reminds him that there have parts that _really_ won't appreciate that shock _._ Tanaka brushes off the cat's wisdom and promptly advocates for Hinata, Noya, and Bokuto to join him in freezing his nerves through one good plunge. A grin finally breaks across Asahi's face, the banter sliding back and forth around him feeling normal in a weird sort of way.

"Kiyoko's punishments would probably be a breeze next to what we went through back at the rookery. You guys don't have any race pit around here." Kageyama murmurs as Daichi wipes the egg from his face.

"Actually... " Asahi breaks in tentatively, "they haven't run since you guys left." Kageyama's cobalt eyes lock onto him for a long second before jumping to Daichi.

"You're kidding." He says and Daichi glances his way as he hands the towel to Suga.

"Asahi's right. It was probably because all manpower was dedicated to the search for you guys at first, but he never ran them again even after he called it off a month ago."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Daichi, wasn't joking, Kageyama," The thrush breaks in with a small smile. "Your father isn't the same person."

Kageyama glances down at the sand underneath them and Asahi wants to think that there's a measure of hope somewhere in the skeptical frown on his face. The large crow can't imagine having had a father like the Grand King, and he's often wondered if Kageyama had actually always wanted something of a normal parent-child relationship instead of what he'd gotten.

"Shouyou! What the hell!" Noya's outburst gets everyone to jump and Kageyama is on his feet so fast, Asahi instinctively comes to his own as well.

" _Fuck."_ The expletive that escapes under the black haired setter's breath is so _sincere_ that it jars Asahi's nerves.

"Hinata! What is…" Tanaka is rendered speechless and when Asahi finally looks over, he pales. Tanaka and Noya both have their shirts off and Hinata's is halfway there.

 _Beach. Swimming. Aw, hell._

Why hadn't he been paying more attention? He could have tried distracting the loud twins or something. He could have suggested Volley or _anything_. Now the two are crowding around Hinata, freaking out and gesturing wildly. Bokuto looks bewildered, like he wants to do something, but doesn't know where to start. For his part, the redhead is overwhelmed; he hunches slightly under the sudden flood of boisterous attention and takes a step back. His face pinches and he pulls the shirt back down, his gaze dropping to the sand. Asahi doesn't even realize his feet have him following the princeling as Kageyama closes the distance to the redhead in moments.

"Woah, man, your back!"

"Shouyou, those are—"

" _Hinata_."

Kageyma's growl is probably the most commanding tone Asahi's ever heard from him. Noya and Tanaka freeze and Hinata goes rigid, his face jerking up to meet the oncoming crow. Kageyama's face must be set with a livid scowl, because the redhead goes white.

"K-Kageyama, I—"

Kageyama snags one of Hinata's arms and drags him two steps before turning back to where Noya and Tanaka stare at them in astonishment.

"I am borrowing him for a bit. There's something we need to discuss." He bites out sharply, his voice betraying every bit of the cold and controlling capability Kageyama inherited from his father— but has never once used outside a Volley match.

The setter turns and slides an arm around Hinata and the smaller boy flinches. Whatever is going through his head, the little spiker is terrified.

"Kageyama, what—"

"It's alright, Hinata. You've done nothing wrong." Kageyama cuts him off, his voice quieter, the edges of his words softer.

"Then—"

"Hang onto me, Shouyou." Kageyama says and takes off.

Asahi still finds it odd that Kageyama calls him by his first name, even though Daichi had said he did. He wonders if it's tweaking out Noya and Tanaka, too, because they remain rooted to the ground for a long moment, their gazes tracking the image of Kageyama and Hinata as they rapidly depart. The setter is definitely unsettled because the pace he's setting is relentless even with Hinata in his grasp.

And then both Noya and Tanaka move to follow, and Asahi almost doesn't react quick enough. He closes a large hand on their shortest member's wing and catches the bald one in a headlock. Noya almost falls over at the sharp motion and turns back to Asahi with surprise and irritation.

"What the hell! Let go, Asahi!"

"Let them be for a bit, Noya." Asahi rebuttals and the small crow turns to glare up at him.

"Those were _wings_ , you moron!"

Tanaka taps the arm that's wrapped around his neck, but Asahi can hardly think beyond how much he hates it when Noya looks at him like that. But… Kageyama and Hinata need the chance to talk— without interruptions.

"I know." He says stupidly, because he can't think of anything else… and Noya blinks up at him.

"You _know?_ " He echoes in disbelief. Asahi hunches just a bit.

"Ah, he changed his shirt at lunch while you guys went with Kiyoko and we realized it. You've been next to him all day so I didn't get a chance to tell you."

"Asahi." Daichi calls sharply and the large crow jerks at his name and cranes his neck to see their unit leader. "Release Tanaka— gently."

Asahi and Noya both glance at the bald crow and their faces slack in horror. The other crow is out cold, completely lax against Asahi's arm. The larger man immediately loosens his hold, releasing Noya as he gently drops the other crow into the sand.

"Man. You actually put him out." Noya mumbles in a strangely distant awe as he comes up to hover over the bald crow.

He's right and Asahi feels awful. Tanaka had even silently requested to be let go. He'd been so distracted by Noya getting angry at him, he hadn't even realized Tanaka wasn't getting air.

"Heh. Maybe you can do that to Kageyama when he gets back. Freaking jerk, just hauling off with Shouyou like that." The small crow grouses irritably as he watches Tanaka begin to stir.

"Hinata doesn't know they are levelers." Asahi murmurs despondently.

He can't help feeling like everything that just happened was somehow his fault. Maybe he could have convinced Kageyama to act on his own sooner if he'd just _not_ been such a chicken to talk to him. Maybe he could have prevented the asinine beach idea if he'd been paying attention. Maybe—

"So? He'll be stoked to realize he's going to fly again someday." Noya says sullenly. Asahi blows out a long sigh.

"That's not a conversation I think you want to be in the middle of, Yuu." He says softly and Noya glances at him. His hard mocha eyes soften just a bit and Asahi is glad he looks less annoyed.

"I guess. I just wish I felt more confident that Kageyama will understand him. He's really bad at reading people, sometimes."

The barest smile tips the corners of Asahi's mouth as Tanaka groans.

"You can be, too. Hinata thrives on human interaction, but he looked like he wanted to curl up into a ball when you guys saw his back. You forget that Kageyama has been with him all summer, abandoned everything to keep him safe. What he did just now… I think that was to spare him an awkward situation he might not have been ready for. I think he probably gets Hinata better than most anyone."

Noya huffs and finally shrugs as he helps Tanaka sit up.

"Eh, they aren't back in an hour, I'm going to go find them… and probably deck that black haired moron."

"Anger raises your blood pressure, Noya." Asahi says fretfully. The smaller crow tosses him a smirk filled with cocky impudence.

"I'm not angry. I'm just _displeased_."

Asahi knows that look. It means someone just became the focus of all the short crows pranks for the foreseeable future.

 _Oi. Kageyama is going to be peeved._

Asahi can't help the wry grin that tips his mouth though, and feels like everything might turn out just fine. It's been a hell of a day. They'd finally been reunited with Hinata and Kageyama… and met a whole slew of other interesting people. Cats, owls, avians, all together in this small corner of paradise, and the only one to end up knocked out was Tanaka because _he'd_ put him in a sleeper hold and promptly forgotten about him. It's looking like Hinata is _finally_ going to learn everything, _and_ he's going to get his wings back. It's an ending that, while not exactly as they'd pictured it, was something the Karasuno unit probably all wished for, but never dared hope for.

And he has to muse with some small amount of chagrined humor that he never did get a good look and is somehow the only one who _still_ has no idea what is so freaking important on Hinata's back.

A/N: Cripes, this chapter wast a bitch. It fought me almost the entire time and ended up being quite long relative to others, but I think I'm satisfied with it. I picked Asahi kind of at random for the POV, but also because his personality is fairly close to my own... so it should have been easier to write, yes? Ha. To sum up this chapter: FML.

Well, we are down to that point, guys. I hope you enjoyed it and are ready for tomorrow's chapter; stay awesome! :)


	29. Reconciliation 1-1

**Level Pair; Reconciliation 1/1**

You are my heart, my soul, my treasure, my today, my tomorrow, my forever… my everything. ~Anonymous

 **Kageyama** sets them down on a large open plateau, the wind blowing steadily. He releases Hinata and the redhead steps away and turns to look at him with wide-eyed wary uncertainty.

"Sorry… I didn't give you much warning." Kageyama murmurs.

"It's… okay. Um...this spot is really exposed…" Hinata says in a small voice, his almond eyes watching him carefully, and Kageyama detects rife confusion and caution.

 _Damn. I overdid it. He's completely on edge._ But Kageyama hadn't seen any other way to stop that exchange in its tracks. He wants to sigh in frustration. This was _not_ how he'd pictured this going down.

"It's supposed to be. It's a lot harder to eavesdrop when your target can see you." He says, his thoughts drifting back to the way the others had crowded _him_ earlier. Yeah… they'd probably just about fall over themselves to hear this explanation even if only to give him crap for his poor communication skills later.

"Oh… um, Kagayama," Hinata says hesitantly, his gaze dropping to the ground. "I know you don't always talk about everything. And... I know there's been something bugging you, but it's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Kageyama frowns, not liking the way his voice sounds meekly pacifistic. That isn't Hinata.

"It's long overdue… besides, pretty much everyone else knows." He says, guilt tugging at him. Hinata's amber eyes find his own, the creases at their corners betraying his unease.

"It's okay. You will tell me when you are ready." He says and Kageyama can _see_ he's nervous. He wonders what Hinata thinks might be coming as he continues babbling. "You _always_ talk when you're ready. It's usually after we've beaten the crap out of each other off Momma Yu's back launch platform— which is kind of disappointing it's not available anymore because I think this might have been resolved by now. And it's harder to go through that ritual of yours with so many people around all the time, too. Your penchant for needing a dose of physical abuse in order to start talking _is_ a bit masochistic— and I don't get why _I_ have to suffer it with you, but whatever helps. So it's fine, because—"

"We're a level pair, Hinata."

The words just tumble out and Kageyama is surprised it was that easy. He'd honestly been more focused on how the redhead seemed to be working himself into an anxious ball of nerves than his own insecurities. Hinata blinks at him, his eyebrows rising in surprise. But that's all it is— just surprise. There's no shock or disbelief like Kageyama imagined there would be.

"What?" He asks as if he's seeking clarification, not as if he's crazy, and Kageyama looks away.

"We're levelers. You know, like in all the stories?" He mumbles.

"Oh…" He says softly. "I knew that already."

 _Eeeeh?_

Kageyama has a moment to blank over at the response before he frowns.

"Er… Since when?"

Hinata's gaze slides to the side, his shoulders hunching slightly.

"A while now… since that day you got us all banned from the fish shop across from Ukai's in town like a month after we got here. You remember? You kinda lost it and even laid out Lev on accident."

Kageyama deadpans.

He doubts he will ever forget. Bokuto had pulled him outside the shop for a moment, for what he can't even remember, but when he'd walked back in, some jerk with white wings had backed Hinata and Yachi up against a wall. Hinata'd later said the guy'd been harassing the bunting, so he'd stepped in. Kageyama happened to return just as the jerk had taken hold of the redhead's shirt.

'Lost it' was an understatement. Kageyama had straight up seen red. Centuries of military control went out the window, but all the skills learned under his father came effortlessly. Before he even knew what was happening, four pairs of hands were forcing him to the ground. When he'd finally focused on the faces around him, he'd blinked up at them in a moment of blind shock. Bokuto and Akaashi had had a solid restrictive grip on his wings, Tsukishima had placed a knee in his back, and Lev had secured a hold of his arms, his mouth bloody. The guy with white wings lay unconscious and surrounded by people on the floor a little ways away.

Apparently, Kageyama had broken his nose, several ribs, and one wing in two places… and that didn't even touch the other bruises he'd inflicted in the six second span it took for bystanders to react. Lev had been the first and had caged him from behind. He'd quickly thrown him off and executed a textbook punch to his face before Bokuto, Akaashi, and Tsukishima had stepped in, the blond drawn in from outside by the commotion. And the thing that had stood out most for him in those moments following the one-sided altercation, was Hinata's shocked face as he placed an arm around Yachi's shaking shoulders.

All in all, it was not his fondest memory or proudest moment.

"Yeah… I remember." He manages but Hinata's already continuing without any solicitation.

"It was kind of a bunch of things that just sort of lined up for me and honestly, it wasn't you that gave it away." Kageyama frowns.

"It _wasn't_?"

That's a surprise since he was the one who'd completely, five-hundred percent, overreacted. Hinata shakes his head.

"You'd literally just beat the ever living feathers off that gull for pretty much nothing— I mean, he _was_ up in my face, but your response was overkill…" He glances away, his gaze sliding unfocused. "And everyone treated it like it was totally normal— _expected_ even.

"When we got back, Kuroo took one look at Lev and his busted lip and laid into you. You just stood there, taking it as if you knew you'd seriously fucked up, but Lev stepped in and said that it wasn't your fault. And... Kuroo left it at that."

One of Hinata's hands moves on its own and grips his other arm.

"At first I thought that maybe it was just Kuroo being his 'older brother' self with Lev being a cat and all, so when he more or less said it was 'okay', Kuroo let it go… but everyone was giving you these forlorn glances, as if they somehow felt sorry for you. Kiyoko was bandaging your wing after you'd cut it on a table in the brawl and she looked at you with such _pity_. Even Tsukishima only had a frown and not his usual sneer. It made no sense, the way everyone eased off you after you'd nearly killed the guy… it was like they were all silently saying you'd had no choice."

Kageyama feels his face heat.

"It kind of happened before I'd even thought about it." He mumbles and Hinata glances at him.

"Yeah… I got that impression. You didn't get to sleep for a long time that night; I know, because I didn't either. When your heart finally slowed down, I opened my eyes and your wings were glowing. My few feathers were, too, but yours had this really cool deep blue going on and I remember everything just kind of falling into place. The way we'd both be sick after any real fight we've ever had and the weird molts, the sleeping together, the way your sprained wing seemed to heal ridiculously fast, and the way you are always close by— it all just clicked." Kageyama quirks a brow with a touch of surprise.

"Mine glow, too?" He'd never noticed. Hinata's face colors just a bit but a small smile tugs at his mouth.

"Not often… the cut on your wing healed and they stopped. But they're super cool looking when they do. Mine… well, mine are _gone_ so I guess I'll always glow." He says wryly before looking back up at him inquisitively. "How long have _you_ known?"

Kageyama glances away, this question forcing him right back into a comfort level he's not so keen on.

"A couple days after you were grounded." He murmurs, waiting for Hinata to get upset and indignant because he'd never told him. But the redhead suprises him like always.

"Whoa, that long!? I didn't think you were that observant." He says, his eyes flashing with awe and it takes Kageyama off guard.

"Eh...you glowed at night. It was easy to tell." He says feeling marginalized on some level at how noticing Hinata _glowing in the dark_ was apparently somehow an achievement.

"I guess. But _I'm_ the one that glowed and I never noticed…"

"You were always asleep. That's usually when it happens." Kageyama remarks dryly.

"Still they're _my_ glowing feathers." He mumbles petulantly, his arms folding in front of him. Kageyama can't help but find it endearing. But a question strikes him and he can't ignore it.

"Why didn't you ever say anything? You must have realized that I already knew." He asks, as much afraid of the answer as he is curious. Shouyou hunches slightly, his gaze fixing firmly on his feet.

"Because I didn't want to make you upset."

For the second time in the last five minutes, Kageyama mentally stumbles.

"Upset?" He echoes, baffled.

"Yeah… you only get one leveler, and you ended up with me— a broken crow. I won't ever be able to fly with you or play real Volley again or any of those things. I didn't bring it up in case it made everything worse… I—" Shouyou squeezes his eyes shut and the fear that touches the shadows of his face makes Kageyama want to cringe. "I didn't want to do anything that might make you leave."

It comes out quiet and pained and Kageyama can only focus on that last part and the way it seemed like such an emotional toll for the redhead just to say it. And as the words sink in, he feels shame and regret crawl into his gut in an instant.

He doesn't care if it isn't something he'd normally do, he reaches out and takes Hinata by the shoulders. The smaller crow jumps, but Kageyama's hold is strong and Shouyou's almond eyes look up at him with surprise and uncertainty. Without a word, Kageyama pulls him to his chest and crushes him in a fierce embrace. He couldn't have left if he'd wanted to.

"Shouyou... you're my world— have been for a while. It doesn't work if you're not in it, so I'm not going anywhere." He can feel Hinata jerk just a little and go rigid.

"Do you mean that?" He whispers, and Kageyama can hear how raw his nerves are. He can hear the distress, dread, desperation, and anxiety and he hates all of it. He huffs slightly.

"I'm stubborn and belligerent and not good with words, but lying… you of all people should know how well I _fail_ at that, idiot."

Hinata's stiff muscles loosen just a bit but he doesn't say a word. It's a reaction that tells the setter that his weak attempt at a bantering reply isn't enough. Kageyama sighs softly into his hair, marveling absently at how it tickles against his face.

"I'm not here because I view you as some _responsibility._ I honestly don't know what I would do without you." He murmurs and Hinata leans into him just slightly.

"Please don't ever go away?" He asks, his voice cracking.

And _damn_ if the redhead's insecurity isn't tugging at his own chest. How many times had he thought back to that argument that first night they'd spent with Kenma and Kuroo and that very possibility? He takes a deep breath.

"That will only happen if that's what you want. I'll keep you invincible until then." He says. "And for the record… it never mattered to me that you're grounded. There's no one else I'd want for a leveler."

Finally, Hinata slacks and his arms snap out to return the hug with every bit as much intensity.

"You know… you really are amazing." The redhead says so quietly in a voice that's half fractured with emotion that he's almost unsure Hinata spoke at all. Kageyama blinks even as his chest swells at the watery remark. "But you're kind of slow."

 _What?_

The warmth in his lungs pauses and Kageyama's brow draws down in puzzlement.

"What are you going on about now?" He asks gruffly.

"It's always been difficult… being beside you. You were always unrivaled at everything you tried and I was fascinated all the way back to that first time I saw you. And I always felt like there was an impossible gap between us, like there's no way we could ever stand on the same ground. You were always the best and I wanted to be just like you, so that I could always stay beside you. I never did tell you, but I thought you were incredible in that match against the Grand King." The remark blindsides Kageyama, and he has no idea where this is coming from.

"But we lost." He murmurs, still off balance. Hinata huffs with amusement.

"I know. I was there...you fought for us… for me …" He squeezes a little harder. "Kageyama… you've been _my_ world for most of my life. And just recently, I felt like I could reach out and finally touch it. Like at the fish shop. It was both terrifying and exhilarating, seeing that look of pure lethal intent on your face when you attacked that gull, and realizing later that it was for me alone." His head drops just a bit against him and Kageyama wonders if he's trying to hide his face or something.

"But… it's also depressing because I know I'll never get to fly with you again."

There's a quiet measure of lament in his voice but that's not why Kageyama frowns. He gently pushes Hinata away from himself and holds him at arm's length. The redhead's large amber eyes stare up at him questioningly.

"You… what are you talking about? Of course you'll get to fly again." He says. Hinata's face drops.

"My wings are _gone_ , Kageyama. No amount of healing will ever change that. You can't fix something that doesn't _exist_ anymore." He says bitterly. Kageyama stares at him for a long moment.

And then he's yanking on Hinata's shirt, completely ignoring his surprised protests. He forcibly extracts the redhead and holds the shirt up out of his reach. Hinata stands before him, red faced and shoulders hunched, an angry glare slicing up at him.

"What the hell was that for, moron?" He barks. Kageyama grabs one of his arms and pushes him sideways, his squawk of surprise not deterring him in the least. He thumbs one of the ridges along Hinata's spine.

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed these." He says and Hinata pauses but his glare doesn't waver.

"O-Of course I have, they're on my back."

"What do you think they are?" He asks with a deep frown and Hinata glances away.

"My wings were ripped out, Kageyama. It was bound to have messed up other things, too." He says.

Kageyama releases him, incredulity flitting through his face. Hinata looks back up at him as he brings a hand to his head.

"Oh, my god. Tsukishima was wrong. You _are_ stupid." He growls.

"Oi! That blond prick—"

"Those are your new wings, idiot." Kageyama cuts him off, shoving his shirt back at him. Hinata goes silent, his gaze blank for several moments, his hands reflexively taking the garment from him.

"What?" He finally croaks.

Kageyama turns him aside once more, a long finger finding his scarred feather base where the ridges stem from. He gently traces one of the dual vertical ribs beneath the redhead's skin, the heat from the other boy almost searing against his fingertips. He glances up to meet Hinata's bewildered frown.

"These are going to be the new long bones. And this," He says, pressing the point near Hinata's hip where they come together, "will be the main joint. You have them on both sides. Your body can't just spontaneously materialize entire new limbs without the infrastructure to support them, and to protect them during the spawn of new bones, muscles, and ligaments, they are forming under your skin. They will be smaller than the ones you lost when they finally break out… but I'm sure they will grow back into their proper size with time."

Hinata watches him with disbelief.

"You.. you're serious." He says in a small voice and then his gaze drifts to the side, and Kageyama can see his thoughts spinning. "This is what Noya and Tanaka were freaking out about."

Kageyama drops his hand from his hot skin with a nod.

"I'm… I'm really going to fly again?" He asks, his almond eyes looking up at him with a terrifying vulnerability. Kageyama flinches at the tendrils of bright hope in his face and turns away from him.

 _You are always so brilliant. That happy brightness has always been scalding in its intensity. You say being beside me is hard but being beside you is blinding._ It's the reason he'd refused to teach him to play Volley that first day so long ago— because he couldn't handle it. And it's the reason he'd gravitated toward him ever since.

"That's the goal. I'll fly you wherever you want in the meantime." He says softly. There's a moment of rustling behind him, and then Hinata's arms slide around his gut, his head dropping against his back between his wings not unlike that first night they spent with Kuroo and Kenma in that cave what seems like yesterday.

"And you'll stay? After?"

Kageyama glances sharply over his shoulder but he can't see the redhead's face. He's still worried about this?

"Until you say otherwise."

"That will never happen."

"Then I think we're good."

"Yeah… hey, Kageyama?"

"Mm."

"'Breaking out' sounds like it will be painful."

Kageyama blinks at the redhead's disjointed thoughts before a small smile tugs at his mouth. Even in the middle of his uncertainty, he's still humming with excitement. _That_ is just like the Hinata he's always known. Kageyama turns and catches him in a headlock and drags him forward until he's situated just under his arm and tucked up against him. The tension in his shoulders diminishes just a little, because Hinata simply _fits_ there at his side just so.

"Probably. Maybe kind of bloody, too. They _are_ under your skin after all." He murmurs before looking down at his leveler. "Are you scared, Shouyou?"

Hinata's watching him, his gaze shining and Kageyama almost wants to look away from its burning intensity. But he doesn't, because that glowing smile that always gets Kageyama to do stupid things and knuckle under at every turn tugs at the redhead's mouth.

"Not at all."

It blooms in its entirety and Kageyama catches his breath before finding a point in the distance. He knows his face is probably pinking and knows by how his neck feels hot that it probably crept up from there.

"Hey Kageyama?" Hinata asks.

"Hm?"

"Can I call you Tobio?"

Kageyama blinks… and again once more. And then his face sours.

"Why would you want to call me that when the only other person who does is the one person I detest most in this world?" He mutters saltily.

"You call me Shouyou." He points out as if it were the obvious answer… and he supposes that it is. Damn. Logic sucks.

"You really want to remind me of my father whenever you say my name?" He asks caustically. Shouyou laughs.

"It's your name— so own it, Tobio."

Kageyama's arm tightens just a bit around Hinata's shoulders.

"I'm going to throw you off the mountain." He deadpans, his characteristic death glare back in place and scorching the trees in the distance.

Shouyou only laughs again and despite his annoyance, Kageyama revels in it. It is a pure sound, one that quiets every agitated nerve in his body and rouses others. It makes him giddy with excitement and happily content. Hinata is the sun, brilliant and shining. As long as Hinata is smiling, he can breath easy and smile, too.

His resolve deepens and a new goal takes shape in his head. No matter how much this redhead unravels his world, he will continue to reach for it, because his leveler is constantly restitching the seams back together into a new one that is colorful and vibrant and _perfect_. Kageyama is no longer the same person; he can't turn back from this new reality even if he wanted to. A cynical smile that masks the underlying elation tugs at his mouth. This little spiker has totally ruined him… and he's okay with that.

Because no matter how how warped his world becomes at the redhead's hands, he intends to make sure that Shouyou Hinata is always laughing.

A/N: A huge thank you to those who bookmarked or left comments, kept tabs and followed, and everyone who made it through this with me. I know I'm not very good at responding to comments, and I apologize, but I have to say you guys are fantastic and totally made my year. Writers thrive on people like you, so know you are greatly loved and appreciated. This is technically the end of Level Pair... but I may have a small post epilogue blip half done that i might shore up and post if people are interested. The POV is from one of my favorite characters of the series (not Hinata/Kageyama) and kind of expands just a bit further into Craziiwolf's AU.

This chapter... I both loved and hated writing. Yay! they get their happy ending... but will it fall flat? Are they still in line personality-wise? Fluff is one of those things that can really skew a character, so I over analyzed everything to see if it seemed like something they'd actually say/do. Is it true to form, and does it pull the warm fuzzy emotions while not being overdone or unbelievable? It's really short following that monster of a chapter just ahead of it, but I think if I'd have stretched it further, it would have lost a lot of it's presence. I hope it's worth it after I built it up over 6 CHAPTERS.

So, finished up _almost_ on time to kick off Haikyuu! season three! I hope you are all as eager for it as I am, lol. I shall definitely be back with more for you if I get another bout of inspiration... As always, have an awesome night you guys! :)


	30. Resurgence 1-1

**Level Pair; Resurgence 1/1**

Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. ~Langston Hughes

 **Kuroo Tetsuro** smirks at the way the Karasuno unit members stare in awe at the sacked out level pair.

In a rare moment, Kageyama is sleeping _hard_ , splayed out on his stomach on top of a pillow and completely lax. Maybe the pervasive militaristic training of his upbringing is finally slipping, or perhaps it's the relief of everything finally having been hashed out, but Kageyama is _never_ this complacent in sleep and always seems like he's just on the edge and ready to wake at the slightest disturbance. Truthfully, the black cat honestly finds it _fascinating_.

The broken crow is draped over top of him, his orange head resting between Kageyama's shoulder blades. Hinata is just as out as the taller boy and glowing away like always. One arm is pulled up underneath him while the other rests across the back of Kageyama's neck while still managing to wrap around the base of a large black wing. They always managed to become one confusing tangle of limbs, he muses.

Kuroo is confident that for the first time since they'd teamed up six months before, they are both finally at complete ease.

 _Heh. About time._ _Who knew getting everything out in the open would actually make things_ better? He muses sarcastically.

They'd returned in high spirits after what Kuroo assumed was a very productive discussion given the way the redhead had been only too eager to show off his back for everyone, while the princeling had sat back and watched with a _serene_ expression— something that was so disconcerting that the black cat had legitimately wondered for a few moments if the world was ending. The little spiker's about face from his discomfort earlier had been emphasized by nonstop chatter, the taller setter had merely watching his leveler with a relentless tracking gaze and an occasional small smile or lightly bantering remark. They were so laid back and _different_ from normal that Kuroo had felt as if he were meeting them for the first time all over again.

But when the redhead had yawned mid-sentence, Kageyama had called it a night, disregarding Hinata's protests entirely. Kuroo had smirked, because he'd noticed the taller boy sagging, too; the curfew declaration had been as much for the setter's benefit as the shrimp's. Gruffly reminding the redhead that everyone would still be there in the morning, Kageyama'd ushered Hinata in to claim the optimal spot in the front room where the sun would hit last in the morning.

The redhead had grumbled the whole way, and then launched himself gracelessly on top of the setter's back in a gesture of defiance as the dark haired boy had bent to pull out bedding. Kageyama had huffed a chiding insult, but hadn't cared enough to really shake him off and had simply dropped beneath him, leaving the redhead to figure out a comfortable position across his shoulders and spine.

Hinata might've wanted to stay up longer, but he'd been out in five minutes flat as soon as they'd lain down. He hadn't even moved from where he'd sprawled across Kagyama's back, the conversation he'd rebelliously continued with Lev dangling into nothing. Kageyama had scoffed and rolled his eyes when he'd noticed how everyone had migrated in with them and watched them almost expectantly before shrugging and closing his own cobalt orbs in annoyance. The black cat had had to smother a grin at how the Karasuno unit had almost seemed to hold their breath as Kageyama dropped off at the same time Hinata began his firefly imitation.

Kuroo leans back carelessly against the wall and studies the faces in the room. There's a quiet hush among them, no one wanting to wake the two already slumbering crows. For the beach crew, this is normal… even if the unusually careless atmosphere of the last few hours is new. They go about setting up the rest of the room for sleep like they do every night. The futons and pillows and blankets are all dragged out and spread out like puzzle pieces around the sleeping pair until there's no space in the large room left uncovered.

Akaashi snags the pillow he always uses away from Lev and tosses it down to claim a spot with an annoyed scowl. Bokuto complains about his choice in a low petulant voice until the other owl releases a long suffering sigh and moves to where Bokuto wants. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stake out a spot near the large bay window, the ibis an early riser and preferring the morning light. Yamaguchi wasn't as big on it, but Kuroo is positive he'd never tell the blond that. Yachi pulls out a blanket and lays it out near the sleeping pair's feet while Kiyoko walks in with several glasses of water. She carefully distributes them around the room on shelves and end tables for thirsty mouths that wake in the night before joining the bunting in fluffing their pillows. Lev is already sprawled out beside Hinata and Kageyama, watching the activity around him with interest like he always does.

The Karasuno unit members seem unsure about what to do, and Hinata's lightning bug impression is still holding their attention pretty well in any case. The thrush and unit leader— _Suga and Daichi_ , he reminds himself— watch their two formerly 'missing' members with relaxed content and a fondness that conveys a knowing understanding and connection. The tallest Karasuno crow with the goatee watches them with awe, the smallest one beside him with a similar expression. Hinata had called one Noya and the other Asahi, if he remembers right.

But the small crow also seems a little taken aback, as if he doesn't quite believe it. He drifts closer to the diminutive large crow, a hand twisting into Asahi's shirt in what Kuroo can only think might be a bid for reassurance. One of the black cat's brows cocks curiously and he files the action away to privately study later.

He finds the last Karasuno member not far from them and pauses. The bald crow— the one Asahi accidently knocked out earlier...Tanaka— leans against the doorway with a contemplative look. He's had a generally feral demeanor the whole afternoon, but his expression is pensive now. His shoulders are slightly hunched, his arms crossed in front of him, a slight frown creasing his forehead. Of all the people in the room, he strikes Kuroo as the one who appears the most alone with the way he looks like he's hanging back with uncertainty.

The black cat's head tilts.

 _He looks like he feels like he doesn't fit._

A slight upturn of the corners of his mouth betrays Kuroo's amusement. Heh, as if _any_ of them fit. The black cat grabs up a pillow and saunters toward him.

"Oi, Baldy." He says and the crow glances at him, an instantly surly look overtaking his face, a dark scowl clouding his brow. Kuroo smirks and shoves the pillow into his chest.

"If you don't act soon, all the good spots will be gone."

He blinks and glances down at the pillow before taking it more reflexively than intentionally.

"Ah… Thanks." He murmurs and Kuroo huffs a breath of a laugh.

"Lev." He says quietly, glancing back at the gray cat who looks up at him, eyes bright with expectant attention. "Think you can keep this guy warm? Since we don't have more blankets?" He asks with a devious smirk.

"Course!" He says buoyantly. Kuroo turns back to find Tanaka glancing between them with narrowed eyes.

"I don't need—" Kuroo cuts him off by swiftly closing a hand on his shirt and hauling him forward, pillow still in hand and the other four Karasuno members staring.

"Sure you do." He says easily, and shoves him forward toward the gray cat who's sitting up beside the sleeping level pair. He stumbles forward, his hands coming up in front of him around the pillow.

"No really—Gah!"

He lets out a surprised yelp as Lev closes a hand on one of his wings and jerks him off his feet. He flails down between the gray cat and Kageyama and Hinata, the commotion rousing the redhead slightly. The grounded crow's eyes crack open just as Tanaka lands with a grunt, his amber orbs completely foggy with sleep. The loud crow rights himself and glares between himself and Lev.

"Oi, what the fuck? I—"

He freezes for a long moment and Kuroo can't keep from grinning. Slowly, the bald crow turns to where Hinata's arm has reached out and latched onto his shirt, a small smile tipping his mouth as he drops back off with a light sigh. Tanaka lets out a breath in defeat.

"Ah, what the hell."

He relents and allows the gray cat to shove him down beside the glowing level pair before Lev sprawls and curls against his other side. Content and pleasantly gratified by Hinata's impromptu outreach— really, the kid was virtually unconscious and still be able to get Tanaka to bend in an instant with zero effort, Kuroo grabs another couple pillows and a blanket and turns back to Asahi and Noya who watch him warily.

"There's still space on their other side. Kenma will poach that spot if you wait too long." He says and passes the bedding off to them, unable to banish his smirk.

Really these guys are _so_ on edge— they are way too fun. He steps back as the other four finally start moving to find places to bed down for the night. Noya and Asahi take up the space he'd suggested on Kageyama's and Hinata's other side while Suga and Daichi survey the area between the owls and the salty ibis and Yamaguchi.

Bokuto shifts to make room, his back rolling across Lev's feet. The gray cat playfully shoves his shoulder with a heel, rolling him back over onto Akaashi who grunts in irritation and shoves him off. Lev chuckles softly before relaxing and closing his eyes, one foot dropping over the streaked owl's ribs as he settles back in. Yachi smiles softly at their antics, her own eyes looking heavy as Kiyoko throws an arm around her waist. Tsukishima looks like he's doing his damnedest to ignore them all even if Yamaguchi huffs through his nose with mirth.

The Karasuno group slowly start to relax, and Kuroo feels a sense of satisfaction swell in his chest. Everyone— even their five new additions— is set and at ease, everyone safe. A slight smile twists his lips and his one good eye catches Kageyama's cobalt ones watching him with tired focus. The setter's chin dips slightly in a single half-nod before his eyes slide back closed.

 _Trust_.

That look had been a flagrant acknowledgement of his presence and gratitude for it, and Kuroo drags in a tight breath, suddenly overwhelmed.

Turning, he covertly flees the room and all the people there, doesn't stop until he hits the balcony. He sucks in a deep breath of the cold evening air of autumn and holds it for a long moment, closing his eyes and focusing on the sound of the waves crashing against the sand. When the tumbling water and stone grains are all that fills his head, he slowly blows it back out.

There are moments, he thinks, where this reality _terrifies_ him.

He's been here before… felt the happy contentedness, the sense of belonging, of a place where he fit. He remembers the personality clashes and blooms, the arguments and the fun. He remembers a life full of color and unlimited possibility. He'd been a bit younger then.

A hand moves to the back of his neck, a frown marring his brow.

He'd had all of these things once before… and he'd lost them all, too. Their world was harsh; a lesson he'd learned with the most thorough understanding. There had been some dozen cats in their clan at one point, and they'd all departed one way or another until only he and Kenma were left. He knows he's hardwired to keep people safe as a result, knows it's a foolish endeavor. You can't save people from death.

He'd never imagined that taking in one crow prince and his broken leveler would have led to this. It had been tough in the beginning. For a long time, it had only been himself and Kenma— and then he was suddenly looking out for the son of the person he'd held most responsible for many of his losses. It had been one hell of a hassle sorting out whether he wanted to kill him or support him at first.

But inside a couple days, he'd been unable to reconcile him as the Grand King's son despite the similarities that popped up. Kegeyama might have been analytically systematic and precise just like the rookery leader, but his mindset was worlds apart from that of his father's. The other boy had no hidden motives, no facade he hid behind; his _only_ goal always to keep Hinata safe… and that was something Kuroo couldn't condemn.

So he'd resigned himself to tending to more than just himself and Kenma. But the crow and his leveler had been catalysts for everything that came after, like gasoline on an open flame. Their little misfit party had kept growing, had kept drawing more members for him to worry about. Their group had multiplied again and again, and each time, he found himself drowning as he rose to the pull in his gut.

Kuroo drops his hand and leans forward, bracing himself with his elbows resting on the railing, his head dropping with a sigh.

The feelings— the link to others that he'd felt once before… it's been returning in force, like a fire raging through a dry hayfield. He looks forward to their Volley games, banter comes easy, and he genuinely _enjoys_ being surrounded by all of them. He's determined that they all get to feel the elation of being connected to each other like he does, to know what it's like when someone has their back. And he can't relax unless he knows that everything is fine, everyone at ease.

He doesn't mind the stress of ensuring everyone's comfort and safety— thrives on it actually. And he wouldn't trade any of it, or go back to it just being him and the golden cat once more. He's honestly grown so fond of each of them that he can barely remember what it was like without them anymore. It's just...that feeling of being a part of this, a place he belongs as a part of something much bigger than himself— it sometimes consumes him and leaves him staggering.

Because there's the shadow of doubt behind it. He'd had all this once before and had watched it slide through his fingers. Is he really somehow allowed to have it all again? What if he can't safeguard it and it ends up the same? Is it wrong to still want it all, regardless?

His gaze slides sideways… and he jolts as he notices Kenma's luminous golden eyes at his shoulder watching him. Damn this cat could sneak up on him.

"You have that look again." He says quietly and Kuroo blinks. Perfect. Just what he needs— Kenma worried about _him_.

"Did you eat raw squid? Because you're saying stupid things."

"Squid affects coordination, not intelligence, Kuroo." The golden cat rebuffs before leaning on the railing beside him and glancing toward the ocean, their arms brushing up against each other. "It's okay to care, you know. It's what you are good at." The golden cat says, completely undeterred by his jibe. The black cat wants to sigh.

 _Not getting out of this, huh?_

"I know that." He says, his gaze following Kenma's, his hand straying back to his neck.

"Everyone dies; that's unavoidable. But they're alive because of you and we're all here now. We have the chance to be happy because you cared enough to make that happen."

 _Oi. This cat._ Kuroo huffs through his nose, a small smile loosening the furrow in his brow. He couldn't save them from death. But he could make sure theygot to _live_.

The other cat is watching him again and he turns and fixes Kenma with a probing glance and a smirk.

"You were pretty obtrusive today, Kenma. It's not like you to nudge the status quo." He says with a brow cocked, pointedly turning the conversation back on his companion. He can wield discomfort just as well as the other cat.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He says, glancing away and Kuroo huffs a quiet laugh.

"Heh, you quit setting after ten minutes and blatantly let the shrimp snag Feathers from our grasp. You can't tell me that wasn't on purpose."

"Shouyou was missing hits— badly— because he was so distracted." He doesn't deny it, Kuroo notes with a touch of triumph. He can't help ribbing just a bit more.

"That's a poor excuse. Especially since you bluntly laid it all out there for Kageyama later with all the subtlety of a neon flare. I don't suppose you slipped the idea of going swimming into either of those two crows' heads, either, huh?"

"I had nothing to do with that one." He murmurs, his golden gaze flashing up at him.

"Hm, lucky break then. We might have been waiting forever for them to figure their crap out if it weren't for that."

Kenma's head tilts until it's leaning against his shoulder, and Kuroo loses his train of thought. A soft sigh escapes the smaller cat, a light breeze toying with the ends of his hair.

"I'm glad we aren't like avians." He says softly and Kuroo tosses a questioning glance at him.

"Why's that?"

"In order for them to figure out who their leveler is, one or both must be injured or hurt. It's a very cruel restriction."

Kuroo blinks, his clear eye straying to the translucent red line that connects himself and the golden cat, noticing Kenma's focus on it, too.

"What are you on about?" He asks curiously.

"Their big clues that prove they are levelers are the healing thing and the wing-frying effect when they fight. If they find out they are a level pair due to the healing factor, at least one of them has been hurt. If they find out because they start molting scraggly fried feathers after an argument, they both felt that pain."

Kuroo contemplates his words for a long moment and realizes the smaller cat is _right_.

 _Oi. Fate was a fickle bitch, brutal and unforgiving._ He muses with a wry bitterness.

But then… being a cat came with its own set of problems.

If one didn't see an avian level pair during either their 'binding' or 'breaking' episodes, no one would ever know they were levelers. He imagines it's an innate defense mechanism… if everyone knew a particular individual was a leveler, they could be taken out by way of targeting their other half. The fewer people who knew, the safer both would theoretically be. Cats had no such built in safety, and their other half was visible to others if they were within direct proximity to their leveler.

Avians also only ever seemed to have a single leveler that matched them directly. Cats… could have multiple. Unlike avians, their ideal leveler could change up until the point the link was established. 'Level threads' were a manifestation of who could suffice as their level pair. Once the bond was established, the 'level thread' coalesced into a 'level wire' and any other stray threads would dissolve. The potential for a leveler link was proportionate to the thread's 'brightness', the more vibrant the red thread, the better the candidate.

But… none of their avian companions have said a word about them, so the black cat is left to conclude that only other felines can see them. One or two isn't that uncommon, but any more usually draws attention. Fortunately, they haven't run into much in the way of cats down around Sheru Bay, otherwise Kenma would be a bit of a target. Kuroo wonders a little annoyedly if Kenma's analyzed his threads lately, because the golden cat now has _three._ And three level threads or more… is often viewed as a challenge to other cats. Kuroo grudgingly admits that he isn't immune, either; he's gotten more possessive since the other two threads showed up and has had to consciously remind himself not to do something stupid more than once.

Lev has two and neither are that showy… and the gray cat seems remarkably uninterested in either. It's probably just as well since one leads to Hinata and the other leads to Kenma, both of which don't hardly notice him in that capacity; Hinata because— despite Kageyama keeping him in the dark about the whole level pair thing— he blatantly _adores_ the black haired crow, and Kenma because he was pretty much always glued to Kuroo's side.

Aside from the threads linking him to Lev and himself, Kenma's other one also runs to Hinata, but Kuroo takes satisfaction in the knowledge that the thread that links the golden cat and himself still glows brightest by far. Kuroo… also has another thread, one that, like Kenma's extra two, also showed up in the last six months. Though it's pale and weak and he can't fathom _how_ , the second thread runs to Tsukishima of all people.

He'd never even thought it was possible for a thread to run from a feline to an avian, but all three of them have a level thread to someone with wings… or at least someone who _should_ have wings. Considering how they just gained five more people, he wonders how the dynamics of those stupid threads will change now… although if he's reading the vibes right, the one crow and the thrush are also a level pair.

And that makes him wonder if some of the others he's spent the last six months with are, too. Kiyoko always pays special attention to Yachi, Tsukishima is usually always where Yamaguchi is… and if Bokuto is close by, Akaashi's almost guaranteed to be around, too. There's also that curious tension between the new Karasuno crows, Asahi and Daichi, that gives him pause as well…

But Kenma is right, and given the way avian levelers need to wind up basically injured somehow to discover their 'other half', it makes him think that most of them probably don't have affirmation on that status. It's depressing to wish they could find out, too, because then Kuroo is indirectly wishing for them to undergo pain of some type… something that directly grates against his instincts to take care of everyone. Next to that, his and Kenma's and Lev's 'level threads' seem so much simpler and comfortably familiar with no need for pain involved.

"Yeah. I'm glad we aren't like avians, too." He murmurs. The other cat is silent for a long while and Kuroo drops his head against Kenma's golden locks. The breeze picks up, sharp and a little cold, and tosses their hair and his smaller companion finally shifts. Kuroo glances down to find the cat watching him with a sulky, baleful expression in his glittering golden eyes.

"By the way, Kuroo." He murmurs petulantly, "Why did you sell my spot beside Shouyou?"

A/N: A few people requested in reviews and PMs, so I finished hashing this one out. It's a little rougher around the edges, but considering it had maybe one rewrite, I'll take it. Kuroo really is one of my favorite characters of the series, but I struggled to try to put his internal thoughts together right. I imagine having had a large family and having lost almost all of it could make you gun shy for getting attached again… but his nature beneath the light banter is kind of to protect sort of like Daichi I think, so I can't see him backing down even if it's hard for him.

Thank you to everyone for the reviews and kudos especially for SomeonetheElusiveFangirl for her steady input, it always made me excited to post the next day. :)

If I do more bits for this AU, they will probably be separate pieces, but I decided to do one final 'chapter' just with my personal thoughts on Level Pair. I really hope no one gets annoyed when it pops up and there's no actual chapter and just my ramblings instead… oh well.  
So once again, have an awesome night you guys!


	31. AUTHOR NOTES FOR LEVEL PAIR

**NOTES FOR LEVEL PAIR**

**This is nothing more than my own ramblings on this bit of whimsy and should all be taken with several grains of salt as they are all just my personal opinions…

Hiyo! If you are actually reading this, I'll have felt accomplished in writing Level Pair, because it means that I succeeded in catching and holding my audience's attention well enough that they still want to know more beyond the actual story beyond that **last chapter from Kuroo's POV** … seriously, if you missed it the back button is just above:p

A little bio: I am an amateur writer, have been writing since my early teens (and _everything_ from back then is embarrassing af to read now and it's both gratifying to see how far I've come and terrifying to see where I started). I have completed full novels (like 300+ pages) that I've never taken to a publisher b/c, reasons. I have lurked on fanfiction sights for YEARS as a reader, but had never actually written for any fandom prior to Level Pair, so YAY, first fanfiction! I really enjoyed writing this story, the hurdles and blocks and all. I completely fell into the world and characters and the whole story until it took over my entire life; you can ask my SO, this is all I've talked about for the last month or so. But as much fun as I had, I enjoyed posting it for you all even more :)

Mad props to Craziiwolf and her art for forcing me out into daylight. After years of avoiding it, I got tumblr and AO3 accounts just to post it so I could, at the very least, let her know how her art inspired me. When an artist can get a viewer to experience the emotions and feelings they are trying to portray, they know they have succeeded; it is the same for a writer.

If you are curious about the set pieces that spawned this bit of whimsy, you can find the two main ones that started it on Craziiwolf's tumblr page under the khwingedau tag. Craziiwolf has since expanded considerably on her AU so there are several discrepancies between her world and Level Pair's world; however, that changes nothing with regard to how she was able to pull the emotions out of me and get me to WRITE. A writer can spin a story, flesh out a cast, develop a plot, and present it in an interesting way… but a gifted artist can bring an entire world to life and give it substance and emotion. A visual depiction is almost always more vivid than what our minds can conjure.

If other artists are looking to reach 'fanfiction' status with their work, there are a couple things I'd point out (at least for me personally) as a writer. First, the more pieces you do for an AU set, the easier it is for a writer to get a grasp on the world you create and bridge a story between them. Second—and this is in no way a bad thing, but the more details you throw out, the less freedom a writer has to work your world into a story. With more constraints, it is a greater challenge for a writer to spin a fluid story that flows smoothly and still makes sense. These two things are contradictory in every sense of the word, b/c how can you create more works for an AU and _not_ throw out more details? A good artist can strike a balance, and Craziiwolf does this pretty well.

Ah, so. Level Pair. Some stats:

Final word count: 82, 557. Total chapters: 30. Total pages: 143.

Perhaps equivalent to just under half a standard novel length. Longest Chapter: Asahi's, hands down at roughly 6000 words on its own. Shortest Chapter: Opening 2/2 at less than 1000… I honestly could have combined it with the first and been fine. Chapters I struggled with most: Asahi's and any involving Oikawa. Chapters I enjoyed most: Day Ten 1/1, Reconciliation 1/1, and most of Shouyou's.

I had about 80% of it rough written by the time I started posting… once I hit that point, I was confident that I wasn't going to run into a brick wall and abandon it. As a reader, it's massively frustrating when a good story drops into obscurity because the writer lost interest/fell off schedule/got lazy/had life happen, so I refused to do that myself. If I was going to write for you guys, I was going to go the whole way.

There was something like 2 weeks where all I did was write from the time I got home from work to when I went to bed, my lunch breaks notwithstanding. It all begins as block text for me; when the words are figuratively _throwing_ themselves at the page, I leave formatting until the scene is down on paper. Trying to remember proper mechanics and presentation in the moment is annoying, and I will go back and format/clean everything up later. Level Pair was also written haphazardly; whatever scene was playing clearest in my head was the one I focused on at that moment. If one was fighting me, I'd leave it and come back later to see if it would work better. If one was insistently parading in my head, I'd drop where I was and go write that one.

As far as the story itself… I had most of it written before a lot of details on Craziiwolf's AU emerged and I wished I'd had them sooner because a lot of them were interesting. I didn't go back and change up much after it was down b/c I didn't want to chance burning out on it, but there a lot of differences between them. Certain things were easier to incorporate after the fact, but a few things that I wish I'd known about sooner were things like Kageyama's 'feather mutation', or the red threads between cats, or the altered appearance of a leveler when their other half has a near miss (I still want to try to incorporate this somehow in a post chap b/c I think it's really fascinating).

I consciously chose Oikawa for Kageyama's father because he's often this looming figure in the series already, and they already had the Senpai/Kohai dynamic to work off of. But that was where it massively diverged since I think I really failed to capture his character correctly. Oikawa is a fantastic character and very interesting because he deals with someone of unparalleled talent always just over his shoulder, always threatening to overtake him in the series. The only way he can stay a step ahead is through utilizing his strengths that Kageyama always lacked: his experience level and ability to connect with his team and maximize their strengths. He completely turned into an antagonist for this story and that was never what I intended; it's probably the single greatest plot point I was dissatisfied with.

I also chose to make the 'leveler' link lethal as opposed to Craziiwolf's concept that one of them could survive the death of the other. I think that the potential of both dying would change how people act under stress. No one wants to, but anyone can die for the person they love… but if _you_ dying _also_ kills the person you love, I think you will fight and rail and try that much harder to find a solution, not just cave—albeit grudgingly—to your fate because you know your other half will survive.

Having the possibility of surviving the death of your leveler with the potential of finding a new one also inherently undermines the concept of each character having _one_ perfect person for them out there. If you have a character who is the 'second' perfect match for someone whose leveler has already died, you've inadvertently condemned that character to a lonely life if the original leveler _had_ lived _—_ unless you are in a paradoxical world where everything is set to happen without exception—i.e: the existence of every 'second' leveler occurs _only_ in tandem with an 'original' leveler destined to die, and every 'original' leveler will _always_ die so a 'second' leveler can succeed them. Otherwise, a 'second' leveler could potentially wander the world alone with no chance to connect with their other half if the 'original' leveler of their destined match never dies. Which also brings up the idea that if the 'original' leveler has to die for the 'second' leveler to gain a soulmate, does that make the 'second' leveler the 'second best' option for the soulmate with two levelers? This concept was tougher for me to toy with particularly if we are talking birds which frequently mate for life, with some species even dying of loneliness if their mate is killed.

I say this, but then go and give the cats the potential for variable 'level threads'. Ha, I'm horrible. I guess I felt it was a little more logical in this case because cats are often _not_ monogamous—a female may breed with any number of males and raises kittens alone; a tom will relentlessly try to spawn as many offspring as possible and will regularly kill off any that aren't theirs. I could see the 'multiple' leveler scenario working here to an extent. But once the leveler link is established between them, I still treated it like the birds' link in that it is lethal for both if one of them bites it.

I never mentioned directly who attacked them in the beginning because an attack like that is violent and vicious and while Craziiwolf mentioned Shiratorizawa as 'responsible' in a roundabout way, I didn't feel like placing that directly on them as we don't really know anything about them at all. Aoba Jhosai started out being 'the team to beat' at first in the series but by the end, I was sincerely torn on who I wanted to win that match. I think every team is kind of like that, and wouldn't want to make Shiratorizawa out to be evil somehow.

I struggled to translate the 'burning' wings into something realistic for Level Pair and still be able to maintain how they'd never realized they were levelers growing up. Levelers are supposed to be myth at the beginning of the story and their wings spontaneously igniting through their spats as kids would have completely undercut that… so I treated it more like an internal chemical reaction that made them sick and acted like an internal acid release in their wings or something. In keeping with this, it made more sense to me for Kageyama to have a tougher time through arguments because he _does_ still have his wings.

I also didn't make 'who did it' a huge focus of this story because, for me, the center stage point was first and foremost how Kageyama and Hinata cope and connect. It was a journey of discovery and realization before it was ever a story of revenge. That's why you didn't see anyone else until they returned to the rookery and no one else's POV until the 'epilogue', either. Any backstory for the others was *generally* viewed through the tint of Kageyama's/Hinata's memories because Level Pair was very much _their_ story.

Ok, so I have one thing I want to mention and it makes me cringe with embarrassment.

There were several small mistakes I made that were easy to miss throughout the story that _I_ will always see, but there's one huge one I'm absolutely shocked no one called me out on: Momma Yu. It glares at me every time I run across her in the story and I want to bang my head against my desk every time it happens. Okay… so here's the thing, I _do_ actually know the names of all the characters in the series that show up in Level Pair. This mistake was monumental when I finally noticed it and unfixable without being inconspicuous by that point since she'd already shown up in posted chapters. When I first brought her in, I mixed up Nishinoya's first and last names at that particular moment and used the wrong one for her. And continued to obliviously call her like that until I was working on Asahi's chapter and the point where he calls Noya 'Yuu'. I swear, I stared at my screen for a good ten minutes in mortification and anger. And then I closed my laptop and went to Dairy Queen at 9:15 at night for some ice cream. Not only did I use Nishinoya's first name (and I totally love Noya, like _how_ could I have botched that), I spelled it wrong on top of it. Talk about insult and injury. I couldn't fix it at that point without people noticing, so I just left it. For my sanity, I feel the desperate need to apologize—both to you, my readers, and to my characters (seriously, can you imagine Noya's unequivocally unimpressed expression?).

I'm not sure how I feel about my writing style. My SO says I 'dictate' my stories and I can kind of see that. I have a huge compulsory urge to describe _everything_ and I sort of 'tell' readers how they should feel instead of letting them identify and sympathize with the character themselves. I'm a control freak and OCD af, so I struggle with overwriting my chapters, and end up letting my readers do very little thinking of their own. And that becomes an issue when it slows down the movement of a story. Too much information or over examined points are often tedious and that's a big reason why a lot of people will walk away from prose writing or poetry. You read a story to get to the conclusion, not necessarily to pause and look at the flowers along the path any further than in passing, so anything not directly relevant to the scene you are writing or critical to the story in general can be discarded—and I hate that part of editing. I'm not good at paring down content, because it _all_ means something to me, and disassociating with the chapter in order to evaluate it correctly kills me. It's the single greatest point I think I'd get hammered for if I ever took one of my novels to an editor… besides them tearing my plots to shreds, lol.

As of right now, I have several plunnies for little post epilogue blips… like how Oikawa dealt with his son's abdication, potential Natsu reemergence, Yaku showing up, some kagehina fluff, the emergence of Hinata's wings, a bit part on Yachi/Hitoka and one on Asahi/Yuu, possibly a meeting between Oikawa and Kageyama… probably more I'm forgetting at the moment or haven't dreamed up yet. Ha, yeah, I have my plate full, lol. I might go dark for a week or two, but I wouldn't bank on me being gone.

So thank you once again to everyone who stuck with this in any way, I wish I could tell you beyond words how much I am truly grateful for all your support and kind words… they really make my days so bright :) Stay awesome guys; Nyx signing off.

P.S. If anyone has other thoughts on this or scenes/things you want to see... drop me a line! Never know, it might spark another bout of inspiration ;)


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